# Can Voice Assistants Sound Cute? Towards a Model of Kawaii Vocalics

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.12809 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.12809/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 6 of its 54 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 22 Apr 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [The State of Speech in HCI: Trends, Themes and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.06828/) (2018)
- [What Pronouns for Pepper? A Critical Review of Gender/ing in Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.04206/) (2022)
- [Measuring Voice UX Quantitatively: A Rapid Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.07108/) (2021)
- [Neither "Hear" Nor "Their": Interrogating Gender Neutrality in Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.00183/) (2022)
- [Exploring Gender-Expansive Categorization Options for Robots](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.00191/) (2022)
- [Exploring Consequential Robot Sound: Should We Make Robots Quiet and Kawaii-et?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.02191/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Silver-Tongued and Sundry: Exploring Intersectional Pronouns with ChatGPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.08238/) (2024)
- [Inter(sectional) Alia(s): Ambiguity in Voice Agent Identity via Intersectional Japanese Self-Referents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.01998/) (2025)
- [Super Kawaii Vocalics: Amplifying the "Cute" Factor in Computer Voice](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.06235/) (2025)
- [Operationalizing Perceptions of Agent Gender: Foundations and Guidelines](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.26682/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The Japanese notion of "kawaii" or expressions of cuteness, vulnerability, and/or charm is a global cultural export. Work has explored kawaii-ness as a design feature and factor of user experience in the visual appearance, nonverbal behaviour, and sound of robots and virtual characters. In this initial work, we consider whether voices can be kawaii by exploring the vocal qualities of voice assistant speech, i.e., kawaii vocalics. Drawing from an age-inclusive model of kawaii, we ran a user perceptions study on the kawaii-ness of younger- and older-sounding Japanese computer voices. We found that kawaii-ness intersected with perceptions of gender and age, i.e., gender ambiguous and girlish, as well as VA features, i.e., fluency and artificiality. We propose an initial model of kawaii vocalics to be validated through the identification and study of vocal qualities, cognitive appraisals, behavioural responses, and affective reports.