3.2 Familiarity
Rebo has a life-like appearance in Fig. 1 and facial expressions to acquire familiarity with a user. We
adopt the concept of "intermediate entity between artifacts and animate beings". Rebo is not only a tool but
also a pet to users. The body of Rebo is covered with soft and bouncy cloth and it is comfortable for users
to touch Rebo. When the user strokes Rebo, it changes its facial expressions to inform him or her of various
emotional states of Rebo. We consider this makes the user more comfortable with Rebo. Rebo currently has
four different facial expressions like "Sleep", "Normal", "Select TV channels" and "Change sound
volume". Therefore, interaction with Rebo can be the purpose of the user as well as manipulation of home
electric appliances. We believe that this concept plays an important role for establishing familiarity
between users and Rebo.