# Can you pass that tool?: Implications of Indirect Speech in Physical Human-Robot Collaboration

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.11720 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.11720/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 17 Feb 2025.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [From Conversation to Orchestration: HCI Challenges and Opportunities in Interactive Multi-Agentic Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.20091/) (2025)
- [A Multimodal Framework for Human-Multi-Agent Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.23271/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Indirect speech acts (ISAs) are a natural pragmatic feature of human communication, allowing requests to be conveyed implicitly while maintaining subtlety and flexibility. Although advancements in speech recognition have enabled natural language interactions with robots through direct, explicit commands -- roviding clarity in communication -- the rise of large language models presents the potential for robots to interpret ISAs. However, empirical evidence on the effects of ISAs on human-robot collaboration (HRC) remains limited. To address this, we conducted a Wizard-of-Oz study (N=36), engaging a participant and a robot in collaborative physical tasks. Our findings indicate that robots capable of understanding ISAs significantly improve human's perceived robot anthropomorphism, team performance, and trust. However, the effectiveness of ISAs is task- and context-dependent, thus requiring careful use. These results highlight the importance of appropriately integrating direct and indirect requests in HRC to enhance collaborative experiences and task performance.