| 1. |
- Salomonson, Nicklas, et al.
(author)
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Comparing Human-to-Human and Human-to-AEA Communication in Service Encounters
- 2013
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In: Journal of Business Communication. - : SAGE. - 0021-9436 .- 1552-4582. ; 50:1, s. 87-116
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An increasing number of companies are introducing artificial agents as self-service tools on their websites, often motivated by the need to provide cost-efficient interaction solutions. These agents are designed to help customers and clients to conduct their business on the website. Their role on commercial websites is often to act as online sales/shopping assistants with the hope of replacing some of the interactions between customers and sales staff, thus supplementing or replacing human-to-human communication. However, research on artificial agents and comparisons with human-to-human communication, in particular, is still scarce. The purpose of this article is to explore the similarities and differences in communication between an artificial agent and customers compared with face-to-face communication between human service providers and customers. The method employed is a qualitative comparison of face-to-face human service provision in a travel agency setting and logs of interactions between customers and an artificial agent on an airline company website. The analysis is based on the theory of “activity-based communication analysis” and makes use of a framework of specific communication features provided by this theory. The article demonstrates a number of deficiencies in communication between artificial embodied agents and humans, suggesting that artificial embodied agents still lack many of the desirable communicative aspects of human-to-human service encounters.
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| 2. |
- Frid, Emma, 1988-, et al.
(author)
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Perceptual Evaluation of Blended Sonification of Mechanical Robot Sounds Produced by Emotionally Expressive Gestures : Augmenting Consequential Sounds to Improve Non-verbal Robot Communication
- 2021
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In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents two experiments focusing on perception of mechanical sounds produced by expressive robot movement and blended sonifications thereof. In the first experiment, 31 participants evaluated emotions conveyed by robot sounds through free-form text descriptions. The sounds were inherently produced by the movements of a NAO robot and were not specifically designed for communicative purposes. Results suggested no strong coupling between the emotional expression of gestures and how sounds inherent to these movements were perceived by listeners; joyful gestures did not necessarily result in joyful sounds. A word that reoccurred in text descriptions of all sounds, regardless of the nature of the expressive gesture, was “stress”. In the second experiment, blended sonification was used to enhance and further clarify the emotional expression of the robot sounds evaluated in the first experiment. Analysis of quantitative ratings of 30 participants revealed that the blended sonification successfully contributed to enhancement of the emotional message for sound models designed to convey frustration and joy. Our findings suggest that blended sonification guided by perceptual research on emotion in speech and music can successfully improve communication of emotions through robot sounds in auditory-only conditions.
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| 3. |
- Patrignani, Norberto, et al.
(author)
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Is the IT infrastructure future proof?
- 2011
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In: The social impact of social computing. - Sheffield, UK : Sheffield Hallam University. ; , s. 356-361
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ICT infrastructure and its technological core are now becoming the critical infrastructures of our society. Our activities and processes are now relying on these platforms, they are now our social and business platforms. But are they sustainable? What are the (physical) limits to take into account when looking into the ICT future? Do the planet have enough resources to sustain the making, powering and wasting of all the electronic devices needed to support our social and business platforms in the future? This paper addresses the issue of evaluating the environmental impact of ICT. Starting from the analysis of the sustainability of one of its most celebrated "laws", the Moore's law, we analyse its entire life-cycle, from "silicon-factories", to their use in data centres, to the final destination of ICT products: recycling and reuse (trash ware) in the best case or, uncontrolled waste traffic towards poor countries with health hazards and environmental pollution, in the worst case. We introduce a new dimension in the social and ethical analysis related to ICT: the future. What are the implications of this future ethics in ICT?
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| 4. |
- Asai, Ryoko, 1977-, et al.
(author)
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The revival of natural and cultural identity through social media
- 2011
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In: The computational turn. - Münster : MV-Wissenschaft. - 9783869913551 ; , s. 329-331
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Social media has played an important role as hub for information in political change. It can contribute to the development och psychological and social preconditions for dialog and democracy.
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| 5. |
- Frid, Emma, et al.
(author)
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Perception of Mechanical Sounds Inherent to Expressive Gestures of a NAO Robot - Implications for Movement Sonification of Humanoids
- 2018
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In: Proceedings of the 15th Sound and Music Computing Conference. - Limassol, Cyprus. - 9789963697304
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper we present a pilot study carried out within the project SONAO. The SONAO project aims to compen- sate for limitations in robot communicative channels with an increased clarity of Non-Verbal Communication (NVC) through expressive gestures and non-verbal sounds. More specifically, the purpose of the project is to use move- ment sonification of expressive robot gestures to improve Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). The pilot study described in this paper focuses on mechanical robot sounds, i.e. sounds that have not been specifically designed for HRI but are inherent to robot movement. Results indicated a low correspondence between perceptual ratings of mechanical robot sounds and emotions communicated through ges- tures. In general, the mechanical sounds themselves ap- peared not to carry much emotional information compared to video stimuli of expressive gestures. However, some mechanical sounds did communicate certain emotions, e.g. frustration. In general, the sounds appeared to commu- nicate arousal more effectively than valence. We discuss potential issues and possibilities for the sonification of ex- pressive robot gestures and the role of mechanical sounds in such a context. Emphasis is put on the need to mask or alter sounds inherent to robot movement, using for exam- ple blended sonification.
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| 6. |
- Asai, Ryoko, 1977-
(author)
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Social media as a tool for change
- 2011
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In: The social impact of social computing. - Sheffield, UK : Sheffield Hallam University. ; , s. 44-50
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)
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| 7. |
- Lu, Zhihan, et al.
(author)
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Multimodal Hand and Foot Gesture Interaction for Handheld Devices
- 2014
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In: ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications (TOMCCAP). - : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 1551-6857 .- 1551-6865. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present a hand-and-foot-based multimodal interaction approach for handheld devices. Our method combines input modalities (i.e., hand and foot) and provides a coordinated output to both modalities along with audio and video. Human foot gesture is detected and tracked using contour-based template detection (CTD) and Tracking-Learning-Detection (TLD) algorithm. 3D foot pose is estimated from passive homography matrix of the camera. 3D stereoscopic and vibrotactile are used to enhance the immersive feeling. We developed a multimodal football game based on the multimodal approach as a proof-of-concept. We confirm our systems user satisfaction through a user study.
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| 8. |
- Grünloh, Christiane, et al.
(author)
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Using Critical Incidents in Workshops to Inform eHealth Design
- 2017
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In: Human-Computer Interaction - INTERACT 2017. - Cham : Springer. - 9783319677439 - 9783319677446 ; , s. 364-373
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Demands for technological solutions to address the variety of problems in healthcare have increased. The design of eHealth is challenging due to e.g. the complexity of the domain and the multitude of stakeholders involved. We describe a workshop method based on Critical Incidents that can be used to reflect on, and critically analyze, different experiences and practices in healthcare. We propose the workshop format, which was used during a conference and found very helpful by the participants to identify possible implications for eHealth design, that can be applied in future projects. This new format shows promise to evaluate eHealth designs, to learn from patients’ real stories and case studies through retrospective meta-analyses, and to inform design through joint reflection of understandings about users’ needs and issues for designers.
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| 9. |
- Latupeirissa, Adrian Benigno, et al.
(author)
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Sonic characteristics of robots in films
- 2019
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In: Proceedings of the 16th Sound and Music Computing Conference. - Malaga, Spain. ; , s. 1-6
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Robots are increasingly becoming an integral part of our everyday life. Expectations on robots could be influenced by how robots are represented in science fiction films. We hypothesize that sonic interaction design for real-world robots may find inspiration from sound design of fictional robots. In this paper, we present an exploratory study focusing on sonic characteristics of robot sounds in films. We believe that findings from the current study could be of relevance for future robotic applications involving the communication of internal states through sounds, as well for sonification of expressive robot movements. Excerpts from five films were annotated and analysed using Long Time Average Spectrum (LTAS). As an overall observation, we found that robot sonic presence is highly related to the physical appearance of robots. Preliminary results show that most of the robots analysed in this study have “metallic” voice qualities, matching the material of their physical form. Characteristics of robot voices show significant differences compared to voices of human characters; fundamental frequency of robotic voices is either shifted to higher or lower values, and the voices span over a broader frequency band.
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| 10. |
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