Dataset of 20 Robot Nudge Gestures Across Affective States and Social Intent

This dataset contains 20 nudge gestures designed by a professional animator who served as the project’s motion expert. Each gesture was authored specifically for a non-humanoid tabletop robot used in research on human–robot interaction. The gestures were designed as a fixed set defined by combinations of <b>five affective states</b> (excited, content, angry, sad, neutral) and <b>four social intents</b> (taking space, seeking attention, seeking comfort, no intent), resulting in 20 distinct motion specifications.Files follow the naming convention <i>XY.txt</i>, where <b>X</b> denotes the intended social function (S = taking space, A = seeking attention, C = seeking comfort, N = no intent), and <b>Y</b> denotes the affective profile (E = excited, C = content, A = angry, S = sad, N = neutral). Each file contains the target pose sequences, timing, and motion parameters intended for execution on a Stewart–Gough platform mounted on an omnidirectional mobile base.These expert-designed gesture specifications were used in a two-part human-subject study investigating how people interpret brief robot-initiated nudges, including perceived affect, intent, and agency. The dataset supports research on expressive motion, robot-initiated touch, haptic interaction, and non-anthropomorphic social robots.