  The physical design of a robot suggests expectations of that robot's
functionality for human users and collaborators. When those expectations align
with the true capabilities of the robot, interaction with the robot is
enhanced. However, misalignment of those expectations can result in an
unsatisfying interaction. This paper uses Mechanical Turk to evaluate user
expectation through the use of design metaphors as applied to a wide range of
robot embodiments. The first study (N=382) associates crowd-sourced design
metaphors to different robot embodiments. The second study (N=803) assesses
initial social expectations of robot embodiments. The final study (N=805)
addresses the degree of abstraction of the design metaphors and the functional
expectations projected on robot embodiments. Together, these results can guide
robot designers toward aligning user expectations with true robot capabilities,
facilitating positive human-robot interaction.
