I went to a rented house near campus where they had a normal living room set up and sat me down on a dining chair in the room and handed me a box with a button on it.
"The robot will approach you. Just press the button when you feel like it is getting too close" they said.
They left the room so I was alone, and a few minutes later the wheeled robot entered the room and started slowly but deliberately to move towards me.
Let's just say the robot got too close.
I was sat there alone as the robot moved towards me. I was frantically mashing at the button but it did not stop until it actually collided with my feet and then stopped.
To this day I am not sure if it was meant to stop or not, or even if it was a robotics research project at all or actually a psychology research project.
In hindsight it was as terrifying as it sounds. Still, I got £5 for it.