Lot can happen over shaking hands, say scientists

Do not ever forget to shake hands when you visit for a business meeting next time. Scientists have said that shaking hands before business meetings results in better deals even when people are represented by robots.

Shaking hands is considered as medium to enhance cooperation and trust between humans, The Daily Mail reported.

"Use of robots may allow people to make a physical presence in a place while conducting video conference or conducting interview on Skype," said researchers.

According to study by the University of Bath, developing interaction between robots and humans likely to pave the way for computers to independently conduct business meetings, as well as allowing people with limited mobility to communicate more fully from their own homes.

Researchers at the university used a humanoid robot called NAO in mock negotiations with an estate agent.

Sensors in the robot's hand transmitted a signal when it was grasped, causing a controller in the remote person's hand to vibrate at the same time.

"This experiment highlights just how important the symbolic ritual of shaking hands is upon the way people come to judge others as being trustworthy and willing to cooperate," said researcher Chris Bevan.

"Using a robotic avatar, we were able to demonstrate that this effect holds true even when a person cannot see the face of their counterpart," Bevan added.

The study focused on the impact of handshaking on levels of cooperation and trustworthiness.

"These findings underline the significance of touch and the simple gesture of a handshake, and will be important as we work to further develop robot systems with valuable applications across society," added researcher.

OneIndia News