Human Robot Interaction

Socially perceptive robots: Challenges and concerns

by Christopher Edward Peters

Castellano, G., and Peters, C.
Commentary on the article: Sharkey, N., and Sharkey, A. "The crying shame of robot nannies: an ethical appraisal", Interaction Studies, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 11(2), pp. 201-207, John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2010 doi:10.1075/is.11.2.04cas

Social robots are those endowed with communication channels and abilities that take inspiration from human beings. The... more Social robots are those endowed with communication channels and abilities that take inspiration from human beings. The scope of such abilities should include those allowing a robot to understand people’s affective states and expressions, intentions, actions, and to interpret them based on contextual information. Childcare robots are an example of robots that could take advantage of the integration of these capabilities. This commentary conducts a technical appraisal of the notion of autonomous childcare robots, focusing on these social perceptive capabilities, reviewing some of the key challenges remaining to be investigated by the research community in this respect.

Investigating shared attention with a virtual agent using a gaze-based interface

by Christopher Edward Peters

Peters, C., Asteriadis, S. and Karpouzis, K.
Springer Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces (JMUI), Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2009  doi:10.1007/s12193-009-0029-1
Bibtex available here: http://www.coventry.ac.uk/ec/~cpeters/bibtex/bibtex.html#JMUI2009

This paper investigates the use of a gaze-based interface for testing simple shared attention behaviours during an... more This paper investigates the use of a gaze-based interface for testing simple shared attention behaviours during an interaction scenario with a virtual agent. The interface is non-intrusive, operating in real-time using a standard web-camera for input, monitoring users' head directions and processing them in real-time for resolution to screen coordinates. We use the interface to investigate user perception of the agent's behaviour during a shared attention scenario. Our aim is to elaborate important factors to be considered when constructing engagement models that must account not only for behaviour in isolation, but also for the context of the interaction, as is the case during shared attention situations.

Robots as social mediators: coding for engineers

by Stephen J. Cowley

This appeared as:
Nabe, S., Cowley, S.J., Kanda, T. Ishiguro, H. Iraki, K. & Nargita, N. (2006). Robots and social mediators: coding for engineers. Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication. University of Hertfordshire, September, 6-8 2006, pp. 384-390.

Coding can contribute to robot design by suggesting behavioural benchmarks. These, however, depend on the level of... more Coding can contribute to robot design by suggesting behavioural benchmarks. These, however, depend on the level of analysis. In illustration, semi-formalised rules are used to investigate child-robot encounters. By using behaviour-level codes, we extract information about how children use the robot. This leads to findings about longditudinal changes in how children evaluate its behaviours. Children, we find, use the robot as a social mediator– to prompt synchronized social events. By focusing on a behavioural level, coding can benefit designers of robots, software and sensors.

A multimode navigation system for an assistive robotics project

by Andrea Cherubini

Non-invasive brain-computer interface system: towards its application as assistive technology

by Andrea Cherubini

IntellWheels: Modular development platform for intelligent wheelchairs

by Marcelo Petry

Intelligent wheelchairs (IWs) can become an important solution to the challenge of assisting individuals who have... more Intelligent wheelchairs (IWs) can become an important solution to the challenge of assisting individuals who have disabilities and are thus unable to perform their daily activities using classic powered wheelchairs. This article describes the concept and design of IntellWheels, a modular platform to facilitate the development of IWs through a multiagent system paradigm. In fact, modularity is achieved not only in the software perspective, but also through a generic hardware framework that was designed to fit, in a straightforward manner, almost any commercial powered wheelchair. Experimental results demonstrate the successful integration of all modules in the platform, providing safe motion to the IW. Furthermore, the results achieved with a prototype running in autonomous mode in simulated and mixed-reality environments also demonstrate the potential of our approach. Although some future research is still necessary to fully accomplish our objectives, preliminary tests have shown that IntellWheels will effectively reduce users’ limitations, offering them a much more independent life.

Big Signal: information interaction for public telerobotic exploration

by Peter Coppin

Coppin, P.W., Morrissey, A., Wagner, M., Vincent, M., & Thomas, G. (1999). Big Signal: Infor- mation interaction for public telerobotic exploration. In proceedings of the Workshop on Current Challenges in Internet Robotics , International Conference on Robotics and Automation, May, 1999.

Obstacles must be overcome in order to make viable public distribution of interactive remote experiences via the... more Obstacles must be overcome in order to make viable public distribution of interactive remote experiences via the Internet. High latency and the fact that there are many more users than robots make traditional forms of telerobotics difficult. The Big Signal project seeks to overcome these obstacles using information interaction tightly coupled to a live autonomous rover mission.

Information interaction allows users to engage in a rich exploratory experience without affecting the robotics mission. Additionally, information interaction adheres to the Internet standard of client/server models that allow many users to interact with one data set of information. In December 1998, Big Signal deployed a prototype project by providing an educational interface that allowed students and the public to participate in remote telescience.