| 1. |
- Akalin, Neziha, 1988-, et al.
(author)
-
A Taxonomy of Factors Influencing Perceived Safety in Human–Robot Interaction
- 2023
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media B.V.. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Safety is a fundamental prerequisite that must be addressed before any interaction of robots with humans. Safety has been generally understood and studied as the physical safety of robots in human–robot interaction, whereas how humans perceive these robots has received less attention. Physical safety is a necessary condition for safe human–robot interaction. However, it is not a sufficient condition. A robot that is safe by hardware and software design can still be perceived as unsafe. This article focuses on perceived safety in human–robot interaction. We identified six factors that are closely related to perceived safety based on the literature and the insights obtained from our user studies. The identified factors are the context of robot use, comfort, experience and familiarity with robots, trust, the sense of control over the interaction, and transparent and predictable robot actions. We then made a literature review to identify the robot-related factors that influence perceived safety. Based the literature, we propose a taxonomy which includes human-related and robot-related factors. These factors can help researchers to quantify perceived safety of humans during their interactions with robots. The quantification of perceived safety can yield computational models that would allow mitigating psychological harm.
|
|
| 2. |
- Andreasson, Rebecca, et al.
(author)
-
Affective Touch in Human-Robot Interaction: Conveying Emotion to the Nao Robot
- 2018
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 10:4, s. 473-491
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Affective touch has a fundamental role in human development, social bonding, and for providing emotional support in interpersonal relationships. We present, what is to our knowledge, the first HRI study of tactile conveyance of both positive and negative emotions (affective touch) on the Nao robot, and based on an experimental set-up from a study of human-human tactile communication. In the present work, participants conveyed eight emotions to a small humanoid robot via touch. We found that female participants conveyed emotions for a longer time, using more varied interaction and touching more regions on the robot's body, compared to male participants. Several differences between emotions were found such that emotions could be classified by the valence of the emotion conveyed, by combining touch amount and duration. Overall, these results show high agreement with those reported for human-human affective tactile communication and could also have impact on the design and placement of tactile sensors on humanoid robots.
|
|
| 3. |
- Bonaccorsi, Manuele, et al.
(author)
-
A cloud robotics solution to improve social assistive robots for active and healthy aging
- 2016
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 8:3, s. 393-408
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Technological innovation in robotics and ICT represents an effective solution to tackle the challenge of providing social sustainable care services for the ageing population. The recent introduction of cloud technologies is opening new opportunities for the provisioning of advanced robotic services based on the cooperation of a number of connected robots, smart environments and devices improved by the huge cloud computational and storage capability. In this context, this paper aims to investigate and assess the potentialities of a cloud robotic system for the provisioning of assistive services for the promotion of active and healthy ageing. The system comprised two different smart environments, located in Italy and Sweden, where a service robot is connected to a cloud platform for the provisioning of localization based services to the users. The cloud robotic services were tested in the two realistic environments to assess the general feasibility of the solution and demonstrate the ability to provide assistive location based services in a multiple environment framework. The results confirmed the validity of the solution but also suggested a deeper investigation on the dependability of the communication technologies adopted in such kind of systems.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bruno, Barbara, et al.
(author)
-
Knowledge Representation for Culturally Competent Personal Robots : Requirements, Design Principles, Implementation, and Assessment
- 2019
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 11:3, s. 515-538
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Culture, intended as the set of beliefs, values, ideas, language, norms and customs which compose a person's life, is an essential element to know by any robot for personal assistance. Culture, intended as that person's background, can be an invaluable source of information to drive and speed up the process of discovering and adapting to the person's habits, preferences and needs. This article discusses the requirements posed by cultural competence on the knowledge management system of a robot. We propose a framework for cultural knowledge representation that relies on (i) a three-layer ontology for storing concepts of relevance, culture-specific information and statistics, person-specific information and preferences; (ii) an algorithm for the acquisition of person-specific knowledge, which uses culture-specific knowledge to drive the search; (iii) a Bayesian Network for speeding up the adaptation to the person by propagating the effects of acquiring one specific information onto interconnected concepts. We have conducted a preliminary evaluation of the framework involving 159 Italian and German volunteers and considering 122 among habits, attitudes and social norms.
|
|
| 5. |
- Cappuccio, Massimiliano L., et al.
(author)
-
Can Robots Make us Better Humans? Virtuous Robotics and the Good Life with Artificial Agents
- 2021
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4805 .- 1875-4791. ; 133:1, s. 7-22
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This position paper proposes a novel approach to the ethical design of social robots. We coin the term "Virtuous Robotics" to describe Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) designed to help humans reach a higher level of moral development. Our approach contrasts with mainstream approaches to robot design inspired by the other normative theories, Consequentialism and Deontology. In the paper we theoretically justify our proposal, illustrating how the Virtuous Robotics approach allows us to discriminate between positive and negative applications of robotics systems, of which we provide examples. From an ethical perspective, our proposal is theoretically robust because it is based on the assistive role played by the robot rather than the robot's moral agency. From a designer's perspective, Virtuous Robotics is technically feasible because it transfers the cognitive burden of HRI from the robot to the user, bypassing the need for complex decision-making abilities. From the user's perspective, it is concretely advantageous, because it envisions a realistic way to make robots morally desirable in our lives, as supports for personal betterment and fulfilment.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Cooney, Martin, 1980-, et al.
(author)
-
Avoiding Playfulness Gone Wrong: Exploring Multi-objective Reaching Motion Generation in a Social Robot
- 2017
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 9:4, s. 545-562
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Companion robots will be able to perform useful tasks in homes and public places, while also providing entertainment through playful interactions. “Playful” here means fun, happy, and humorous. A challenge is that generating playful motions requires a non-trivial understanding of how people attribute meaning and intentions. The literature suggests that playfulness can lead to some undesired impressions such as that a robot is obnoxious, untrustworthy, unsafe, moving in a meaningless fashion, or boring. To generate playfulness while avoiding such typical failures, we proposed a model for the scenario of a robot arm reaching for an object: some simplified movement patterns such as sinusoids are structured toward appearing helpful, clear about goals, safe, and combining a degree of structure and anomaly. We integrated our model into a mathematical framework (CHOMP) and built a new robot, Kakapo, to perform dynamically generated motions. The results of an exploratory user experiment were positive, suggesting that: Our proposed system was perceived as playful over the course of several minutes. Also a better impression resulted compared with an alternative playful system which did not use our proposed heuristics; furthermore a negative effect was observed for several minutes after showing the alternative motions, suggesting that failures are important to avoid. And, an inverted u-shaped correlation was observed between motion length and degree of perceived playfulness, suggesting that motions should neither be too short or too long and that length is also a factor which can be considered when generating playful motions. A short follow-up study provided some additional support for the idea that playful motions which seek to avoid failures can be perceived positively. Our intent is that these exploratory results will provide some insight for designing various playful robot motions, toward achieving some good interactions. © 2017, The Author(s).
|
|
| 8. |
- Cooney, Martin, 1980-, et al.
(author)
-
Designing Enjoyable Motion-Based Play Interactions with a Small Humanoid Robot
- 2014
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - Dordrecht : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 6:2, s. 173-193
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Robots designed to co-exist with humans in domestic and public environments should be capable of interacting with people in an enjoyable fashion in order to be socially accepted. In this research, we seek to set up a small humanoid robot with the capability to provide enjoyment to people who pick up the robot and play with it by hugging, shaking and moving the robot in various ways. Inertial sensors inside a robot can capture how its body is moved when people perform such "full-body gestures". Unclear is how a robot can recognize what people do during play, and how such knowledge can be used to provide enjoyment. People's behavior is complex, and naive designs for a robot's behavior based only on intuitive knowledge from previous designs may lead to failed interactions. To solve these problems, we model people's behavior using typical full-body gestures observed in free interaction trials, and devise an interaction design based on avoiding typical failures observed in play sessions with a naive version of our robot. The interaction design is completed by investigating how a robot can provide "reward" and itself suggest ways to play during an interaction. We then verify experimentally that our design can be used to provide enjoyment during a playful interaction. By describing the process of how a small humanoid robot can be designed to provide enjoyment, we seek to move one step closer to realizing companion robots which can be successfully integrated into human society.
|
|
| 9. |
- Engwall, Olov, et al.
(author)
-
Is a Wizard-of-Oz Required for Robot-Led Conversation Practice in a Second Language?
- 2022
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The large majority of previous work on human-robot conversations in a second language has been performed with a human wizard-of-Oz. The reasons are that automatic speech recognition of non-native conversational speech is considered to be unreliable and that the dialogue management task of selecting robot utterances that are adequate at a given turn is complex in social conversations. This study therefore investigates if robot-led conversation practice in a second language with pairs of adult learners could potentially be managed by an autonomous robot. We first investigate how correct and understandable transcriptions of second language learner utterances are when made by a state-of-the-art speech recogniser. We find both a relatively high word error rate (41%) and that a substantial share (42%) of the utterances are judged to be incomprehensible or only partially understandable by a human reader. We then evaluate how adequate the robot utterance selection is, when performed manually based on the speech recognition transcriptions or autonomously using (a) predefined sequences of robot utterances, (b) a general state-of-the-art language model that selects utterances based on learner input or the preceding robot utterance, or (c) a custom-made statistical method that is trained on observations of the wizard’s choices in previous conversations. It is shown that adequate or at least acceptable robot utterances are selected by the human wizard in most cases (96%), even though the ASR transcriptions have a high word error rate. Further, the custom-made statistical method performs as well as manual selection of robot utterances based on ASR transcriptions. It was also found that the interaction strategy that the robot employed, which differed regarding how much the robot maintained the initiative in the conversation and if the focus of the conversation was on the robot or the learners, had marginal effects on the word error rate and understandability of the transcriptions but larger effects on the adequateness of the utterance selection. Autonomous robot-led conversations may hence work better with some robot interaction strategies.
|
|
| 10. |
- Engwall, Olov, et al.
(author)
-
Robot Interaction Styles for Conversation Practice in Second Language Learning
- 2021
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 13, s. 251-276
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Four different interaction styles for the social robot Furhat acting as a host in spoken conversation practice with two simultaneous language learners have been developed, based on interaction styles of human moderators of language cafés. We first investigated, through a survey and recorded sessions of three-party language café style conversations, how the interaction styles of human moderators are influenced by different factors (e.g., the participants language level and familiarity). Using this knowledge, four distinct interaction styles were developed for the robot: sequentially asking one participant questions at the time (Interviewer); the robot speaking about itself, robots and Sweden or asking quiz questions about Sweden (Narrator); attempting to make the participants talk with each other (Facilitator); and trying to establish a three-party robot–learner– learner interaction with equal participation (Interlocutor). A user study with 32 participants, conversing in pairs with the robot, was carried out to investigate how the post-session ratings of the robot’s behavior along different dimensions (e.g., the robot’s conversational skills and friendliness, the value of practice) are influenced by the robot’s interaction style and participant variables (e.g., level in the target language, gender, origin). The general findings were that Interviewer received the highest mean rating, but that different factors influenced the ratings substantially, indicating that the preference of individual participants needs to be anticipated in order to improve learner satisfaction with the practice. We conclude with a list of recommendations for robot-hosted conversation practice in a second language.
|
|
| 11. |
- Feng, Yuan, et al.
(author)
-
Context-Enhanced Human-Robot Interaction : Exploring the Role of System Interactivity and Multimodal Stimuli on the Engagement of People with Dementia
- 2022
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 14:3, s. 807-826
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Engaging people with dementia (PWD) in meaningful activities is the key to promote their quality of life. Design towards a higher level of user engagement has been extensively studied within the human-computer interaction community, however, few extend to PWD. It is generally considered that increased richness of experiences can lead to enhanced engagement. Therefore, this paper explores the effects of rich interaction in terms of the role of system interactivity and multimodal stimuli by engaging participants in context-enhanced human-robot interaction activities. The interaction with a social robot was considered context-enhanced due to the additional responsive sensory feedback from an augmented reality display. A field study was conducted in a Dutch nursing home with 16 residents. The study followed a two by two mixed factorial design with one within-subject variable - multimodal stimuli - and one between-subject variable - system interactivity. A mixed method of video coding analysis and observational rating scales was adopted to assess user engagement comprehensively. Results disclose that when additional auditory modality was included besides the visual-tactile stimuli, participants had significantly higher scores on attitude, more positive behavioral engagement during activity, and a higher percentage of communications displayed. The multimodal stimuli also promoted social interaction between participants and the facilitator. The findings provide sufficient evidence regarding the significant role of multimodal stimuli in promoting PWD's engagement, which could be potentially used as a motivation strategy in future research to improve emotional aspects of activity-related engagement and social interaction with the human partner.
|
|
| 12. |
- Fonooni, Benjamin, 1980-, et al.
(author)
-
Priming as a means to reduce ambiguity in learning from demonstration
- 2016
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - Dordrecht : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 8:1, s. 5-19
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Learning from Demonstration (LfD) is an established robot learning technique by which a robot acquires a skill by observing a human or robot teacher demonstrating the skill. In this paper we address the ambiguity involved in inferring the intention with one or several demonstrations. We suggest a method based on priming, and a memory model with similarities to human learning. Conducted experiments show that the developed method leads to faster and improved understanding of the intention with a demonstration by reducing ambiguity.
|
|
| 13. |
- Frennert, Susanne, PhD, et al.
(author)
-
Case report : Implications of Doing Research on Socially Assistive Robots in real Homes
- 2017
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The current paper addresses the implications of doing research on socially assistive robots in real homes. In contrast to laboratory studies, studies of robots in their intended natural environments can provide insights into people’s experiences of robots, and if and how a robot becomes embedded and used in people’s everyday life. However, moving robots out of the lab and into real life environments poses several challenges. Laboratory methods mainly focus on cause-and-effect relations between independent and dependent variables, while researchers who are conducting studies in real homes have much less control. In home trials, researchers need to decide what kind of data is obtainable and available. In real homes, researchers face unique challenges that require unique and pragmatic approaches. Any single study conducted in a real home is likely to have methodological limitations. Therefore, several different studies using different robots and methods are needed before the results can be converged in order to reach conclusions that are convincingly supported. This paper is an effort to provide such a report on a specific empirical case and converging findings from other studies. The goal is to provide an account of the research challenges and opportunities encountered when introducing a robot into its intended practice: the homes of older people. The aim is to give enough details for other researchers to critically examine and systematically build on the insights and findings presented.
|
|
| 14. |
- Frennert, Susanne, PhD, et al.
(author)
-
Review : Seven Matters of Concern of Social Robotics and Older People
- 2014
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 6:2, s. 299-310
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article maps the range of currently held scientific positions on matters of concern involving social robots and older people. 345 publications from peer-reviewed journals and conferences were narrowed down to 31 key publications that were studied in detail and categorised into seven matters of concern: (1) role of robots in older people's lives, (2) factors affecting older people's acceptance of robots, (3) lack of mutual inspiration in the development of robots for older people, (4) robot aesthetics, (5) ethical implications of using robots in caring for older people, (6) robotic research methodology, and (7) technical determinism versus social construction of social robots. The findings indicate that older people are implicated but not present in the development of robots and that their matters of concern are not identified in the design process. Instead, they are ascribed general needs of social robots due to societal changes such as ageing demographics and demands from the healthcare industry. The conceptualisation of older people seems to be plagued with stereotypical views such as that they are lonely, frail and in need of robotic assistance. Our conclusions are that the perceptions of older people need to be re-examined and perhaps redefined in order to fairly represent who they are, and that more research on older people as social robotic users is needed.
|
|
| 15. |
- Frennert, Susanne, et al.
(author)
-
Technological Frames and Care Robots in Eldercare
- 2020
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Care robots are often portrayed as an exciting new technology for improving care practices. Whether these robots will be accepted and integrated into care work or not, is likely to be affected by the assumptions, expectations and understandings held by potential end users, such as frontline staff and the people that are cared for. This paper describes how the conceptual framework of technological frames was used to identify the nature of care robots, care robots in use and care robot strategy as shared group level assumptions, expectations and understandings of care robots among care staff and potential care receivers. Focus groups were conducted with 94 participants. These groups consisted of line managers, frontline care staff, older people and students training to become carers. The technological frame of the nature of care robots revealed two complementary components: care robots as a threat to the quality of care, and care robots as substitute for humans and human care, held together by imaginaries of care robots. The technological frame of care robots in use revealed aspects of prospective end-users’ uncertainty of their ability to handle care robots, and their own perceived lack of competence and knowledge about care robots. In addition, the following potential criteria for successful use of care robots were identified: adequate training, incentives for usage (needs and motives), usability, accessibility and finances. The technological frame of care robot strategy was revealed as believed cost savings and staff reduction. The novelty of the results, and their relevance for science and practice, is derived from the theoretical framework which indicates that adoption of care robots will be dependent on how well societies succeed in collectively shaping congruent technological frames among different stakeholders and aligning technological development accordingly.
|
|
| 16. |
- Frid, Emma, 1988-, et al.
(author)
-
Perceptual Evaluation of Blended Sonification of Mechanical Robot Sounds Produced by Emotionally Expressive Gestures : Augmenting Consequential Sounds to Improve Non-verbal Robot Communication
- 2021
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
-
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.
|
|
| 17. |
- Galatolo, Alessio, et al.
(author)
-
The Right (Wo)Man for the Job? : Exploring the Role of Gender when Challenging Gender Stereotypes with a Social Robot
- 2022
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent works have identified both risks and opportunities afforded by robot gendering. Specifically, robot gendering risks the propagation of harmful gender stereotypes, but may positively influence robot acceptance/impact, and/or actually offer a vehicle with which to educate about and challenge traditional gender stereotypes. Our work sits at the intersection of these ideas, to explore whether robot gendering might impact robot credibility and persuasiveness specifically when that robot is being used to try and dispel gender stereotypes and change interactant attitudes. Whilst we demonstrate no universal impact of robot gendering on first impressions of the robot, we demonstrate complex interactions between robot gendering, interactant gender and observer gender which emerge when the robot engages in challenging gender stereotypes. Combined with previous work, our results paint a mixed picture regarding how best to utilise robot gendering when challenging gender stereotypes this way. Specifically, whilst we find some potential evidence in favour of utilising male presenting robots for maximum impact in this context, we question whether this actually reflects the kind of gender biases we actually set out to challenge with this work.
|
|
| 18. |
- García Velázquez, Isabel
(author)
-
The Making of Gendered Bodies in Human-Robot Interactions
- 2023
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : SPRINGER. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- With a growing curiosity in anthropomorphic robots, academics and interested parties have started to examine the ethical implications and social impacts of their (mis)use. Gender in anthropomorphic robots is a field that is slowly beginning to receive attention. Yet, its ambiguity has led to treating gender in anthropomorphic robots in a reductionist fashion, pointing to how stereotypical characteristics make certain gender identities and practices legible. I illustrate that the making of gendered bodies goes beyond the oversimplification of stereotypical readable gender cues. Thus, relational and corporeal ways of connecting people and technological artifacts can help to (de)construct the practices of gendering the human body and the body of anthropomorphic robots. This entails alive genders. By alive genders I am referring to an approach which keeps understandings of gender destabilized and evolving. This not only brings awareness to the interdependence of the human body and the body of anthropomorphic robots but helps designers and roboticists to study the gendering of robots as a part of social practices.
|
|
| 19. |
- Gürpinar, Cemal, et al.
(author)
-
Sign Recognition System for an Assistive Robot Sign Tutor for Children
- 2020
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 12:2, s. 355-369
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents a sign recognition system for a sign tutoring assistive humanoid robot. In this study, a specially designed 5-fingered robot platform with expressive face (Robovie R3) is used for interaction and communication with deaf or hard of hearing children using signs and visual cues. The robot is able to recognize and generate accurately a selected set of signs from Turkish sign language using various hand, arm and head gestures as relevant feedback. This paper focuses on the sign recognition system of the robot to recognize the human participant’s signing during the interaction. The system is based on two different approaches including a conventional method involving artificial neural network combined with hidden Markov model and a deep learning based method involving long short-term memory. The system is tested both on offline and real-time settings within an interaction game scenario with deaf or hard of hearing children. During the study, besides testing the sign recognition system, participants’ subjective evaluations and impressions were also collected and examined. The robot is perceived as likable and intelligent by the children, based on the questionnaires; and the proposed sign recognition system enables robust real-time interaction and communication of the assistive robot with children in sign language.
|
|
| 20. |
- Halawani, Alaa, et al.
(author)
-
Building eye contact in e-learning through head-eye coordination
- 2011
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - Dordrecht : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 3:1, s. 95-106
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Video conferencing is a very effective tool to use for e-learning. Most of the available video conferencing systems suffer a main drawback represented by the lack of eye contact between participants. In this paper we present a new scheme for building eye contact in e-learning sessions. The scheme assumes a video conferencing session with “one teacher many students” arrangement. In our system, eye contact is achieved without the need for any gaze estimation technique. Instead, we “generate the gaze” by allowing the user communicate his visual attention to the system through head-eye coordination. To enable real time and precise headeye coordination, a head motion tracking technique is required. Unlike traditional head tracking systems, our procedure suggests mounting the camera on the user’s head rather than in front of it. This configuration achieves much better resolution and thus leads to better tracking results. Promising results obtained from both demo and real time experiments demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed scheme. Although this paper concentrates on elearning, the proposed concept can be easily extended to the world of interaction with social robotics, in which introducing eye contact between humans and robots would be of great advantage.
|
|
| 21. |
- Jerčić, Petar, et al.
(author)
-
The Effect of Emotions and Social Behavior on Performance in a Collaborative Serious Game Between Humans and Autonomous Robots
- 2018
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 10:1, s. 115-129
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to investigate performance in a collaborative human–robot interaction on a shared serious game task. Furthermore, the effect of elicited emotions and perceived social behavior categories on players’ performance will be investigated. The participants collaboratively played a turn-taking version of the Tower of Hanoi serious game, together with the human and robot collaborators. The elicited emotions were analyzed in regards to the arousal and valence variables, computed from the Geneva Emotion Wheel questionnaire. Moreover, the perceived social behavior categories were obtained from analyzing and grouping replies to the Interactive Experiences and Trust and Respect questionnaires. It was found that the results did not show a statistically significant difference in participants’ performance between the human or robot collaborators. Moreover, all of the collaborators elicited similar emotions, where the human collaborator was perceived as more credible and socially present than the robot one. It is suggested that using robot collaborators might be as efficient as using human ones, in the context of serious game collaborative tasks.
|
|
| 22. |
- Johal, Wafa, et al.
(author)
-
Robots for Learning
- 2018
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 10:3, s. 293-294
-
Journal article (other academic/artistic)
|
|
| 23. |
- Johansson-Pajala, Rose-Marie, et al.
(author)
-
Care Robot Orientation : What, Who and How? Potential Users' Perceptions
- 2020
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 12:5, s. 1103-1117
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Exploring the specific field of care robot orientation generates many questions regarding the meaning, content and how it should be conducted. The issue is important due to the general digitalisation and implementation of welfare technology and care robots. The aim of the study was to explore perceptions of care robot orientation from the potential users' perspective. Data were collected by focus group interviews in Finland, Germany and Sweden. In all three countries, potential user groups were represented: older adults, relatives, professional caregivers and care service managers. A qualitative descriptive method was used for analysing data. The data revealed three aspects of care robot orientation: (1) What care robot orientation is, (2) Who needs it and by Whom it should be given and (3) How it should be performed. The need for care robot orientation is general in society. In the absence of knowledge about care robots, it is nearly impossible to know what to ask for or actually seek information about. Therefore, care robot orientation must be founded on agile implementation planning for care robots, with a firm basis in trustworthy knowledge and information and respecting individuals' wishes. This also gives rise to an ethical challenge when care robots are offered to people having reduced decision-making ability (dementia, cognitive impairment), along with the issue of who then should make the decision. The mapping of the What, Who/Whom and How aspects of care robot orientation offers a foundation for the creation of orientation models, which might facilitate structured and goal-oriented care robot orientation strategies.
|
|
| 24. |
- Jones, Aidan, et al.
(author)
-
Adaptive robotic tutors that support self-regulated learning : A longer-term investigation with primary school children
- 2018
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 10:3, s. 357-370
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Robots are increasingly being used to provide motivating, engaging and personalised support to learners. These robotic tutors have been able to increase student learning gain by providing personalised hints or problem selection. However, they have never been used to assist children in developing self regulated learning (SRL) skills. SRL skills allow a learner to more effectively self-assess and guide their own learning; learners that engage these skills have been shown to perform better academically. This paper explores how personalised tutoring by a robot achieved using an open learner model (OLM) promotes SRL processes and how this can impact learning and SRL skills compared to personalised domain support alone. An OLM allows the learner to view the model that the system holds about them. We present a longer-term study where participants take part in a geography-based task on a touch screen with adaptive feedback provided by the robot. In addition to domain support the robotic tutor uses an OLM to prompt the learner to monitor their developing skills, set goals, and use appropriate tools. Results show that, when a robotic tutor personalises and adaptively scaffolds SRL behaviour based upon an OLM, greater indication of SRL behaviour can be observed over the control condition where the robotic tutor only provides domain support and not SRL scaffolding.
|
|
| 25. |
|
|
| 26. |
- Kompatsiari, K., et al.
(author)
-
It’s in the Eyes : The Engaging Role of Eye Contact in HRI
- 2021
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 13:3, s. 525-535
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reports a study where we examined how a humanoid robot was evaluated by users, dependent on established eye contact. In two experiments, the robot was programmed to either establish eye contact with the user, or to look elsewhere. Across the experiments, we altered the level of predictiveness of the robot’s gaze direction with respect to a subsequent target stimulus (in Exp.1 the gaze direction was non-predictive, in Exp. 2 it was counter-predictive). Results of subjective reports showed that participants were sensitive to eye contact. Moreover, participants felt more engaged with the robot when it established eye contact, and the majority attributed higher degree of human-likeness in the eye contact condition, relative to no eye contact. This was independent of predictiveness of the gaze cue. Our results suggest that establishing eye contact by embodied humanoid robots has a positive impact on perceived socialness of the robot, and on the quality of human–robot interaction (HRI). Therefore, establishing eye contact should be considered in designing robot behaviors for social HRI.
|
|
| 27. |
- Kristoffersson, Annica, 1980-, et al.
(author)
-
Measuring the quality of interaction in mobile robotic telepresence : a pilot's perspective
- 2013
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 5:1, s. 89-101
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article presents a method for measuring the quality of interaction in social mobile robotic telepresence. The methodology is in part based on Adam Kendon's theory of F-formations. The theory is based on observations of how bodies naturally orient themselves during interaction between people in real life settings. In addition, two presence questionnaires (Temple Presence Inventory and Networked Minds Social Presence Inventory), designed to measure the users' perceptions of others and the environment when experienced through a communication medium are used. The perceived presence and ease of use are correlated to the spatial formations between the robot and an actor. The proposed methodology is validated experimentally on a dataset consisting of interactions between an elder (actor) and 21 different users being trained in piloting a mobile robotic telepresence unit. The evaluation has shown that these tools are suitable for evaluating mobile robotic telepresence and also that correlations between the tools used exist. Further, these results give iportant quidlines on how to improve the interface in order to increase the quality of interaction.
|
|
| 28. |
- Kuoppamäki, Sanna, 1984-, et al.
(author)
-
Designing Multi-Modal Conversational Agents for the Kitchen with Older Adults : A Participatory Design Study
- 2023
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; :15, s. 1507-1523
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Conversational agents (CA) are increasingly used to manage and coordinate household chores and everyday activities at home. However, these technologies should be adaptive to age-specific characteristics in order to be considered beneficial for the ageing population. This study presents a participatory design of a conversational agent to provide cognitive support in recipe following and nutrition advice for adults aged 65 and over. Through a qualitative thematic analysis, the study explores older adults' expectations, interactions and experiences with the agent in order to identify age-specific challenges of interacting with CAs. Data consists of a participatory design workshop with eight older adults (aged 65 and over), followed by a Wizard of Oz study with ten older adults interacting with the agent in the kitchen environment in a laboratory setting. Results demonstrate that older adults consider conversational agents as beneficial for providing personalised recipe recommendations, advising the user to choose appropriate ingredients and reminding them of their dietary intake. When interacting with the agent older adults displayed challenges with confirmation and repetition, questioning and correcting, the lack of conversational responses, and difficulties in hearing and understanding the multi-modal interaction. Older adults experience agents as collaborators, but not as conversational partners. The study concludes that the accessibility and inclusiveness of conversational agents regarding voice interaction could be improved by further developing participatory methods with older adults.
|
|
| 29. |
- Larsson, Stefan, et al.
(author)
-
Towards a Socio-Legal Robotics: A Theoretical Framework on Norms and Adaptive Technologies
- 2023
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4805 .- 1875-4791. ; , s. 1-14
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- While recent progress has been made in several fields of data-intense AI-research, many applications have been shown to be prone to unintendedly reproduce social biases, sexism and stereotyping, including but not exclusive to gender. As more of these design-based, algorithmic or machine learning methodologies, here called adaptive technologies, become embedded in robotics, we see a need for a developed understanding of what role social norms play in social robotics, particularly with regards to fairness. To this end, we i) we propose a framework for a socio-legal robotics, primarily drawn from Sociology of Law and Gender Studies. This is then ii) related to already established notions of acceptability and personalisation in social robotics, here with a particular focus on iii) the interplay between adaptive technologies and social norms. In theorising this interplay for social robotics, we look not only to current statuses of social robots, but draw from identified AI-methods that can be seen to influence robotics in the near future. This theoretical framework, we argue, can help us point to concerns of relevance for questions of fairness in human-robot interaction.
|
|
| 30. |
- Luperto, Matteo, et al.
(author)
-
Integrating Social Assistive Robots, IoT, Virtual Communities and Smart Objects to Assist at-Home Independently Living Elders : the MoveCare Project
- 2023
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 15:3, s. 517-545
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The integration of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) frameworks with Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) has proven useful for monitoring and assisting older adults in their own home. However, the difficulties associated with long-term deployments in real-world complex environments are still highly under-explored. In this work, we first present the MoveCare system, an unobtrusive platform that, through the integration of a SAR into an AAL framework, aimed to monitor, assist and provide social, cognitive, and physical stimulation in the own houses of elders living alone and at risk of falling into frailty. We then focus on the evaluation and analysis of a long-term pilot campaign of more than 300 weeks of usages. We evaluated the system's acceptability and feasibility through various questionnaires and empirically assessed the impact of the presence of an assistive robot by deploying the system with and without it. Our results provide strong empirical evidence that Socially Assistive Robots integrated with monitoring and stimulation platforms can be successfully used for long-term support to older adults. We describe how the robot's presence significantly incentivised the use of the system, but slightly lowered the system's overall acceptability. Finally, we emphasise that real-world long-term deployment of SARs introduces a significant technical, organisational, and logistical overhead that should not be neglected nor underestimated in the pursuit of long-term robust systems. We hope that the findings and lessons learned from our work can bring value towards future long-term real-world and widespread use of SARs.
|
|
| 31. |
- Markelius, Alva, et al.
(author)
-
Differential Outcomes Training of Visuospatial Memory: A Gamified Approach Using a Socially Assistive Robot
- 2024
-
In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ROBOTICS. - : Springer Science and Business Media B.V.. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 16:2, s. 363-384
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study represents the first stage of evaluating whether cognitive training interventions may be facilitated by the presence of a socially assistive robot (SAR) and gamification. Our experimental setup involves using a SAR providing feedback to a gamified visuospatial working memory task, administered according to a differential outcomes training (DOT) protocol. The study's main objective was to investigate whether performance and attitude towards the task would be affected by different robotic setups (none, simulated or physical) and in relation to different challenge levels. We measured performance accuracy on the gamified visuospatial memory task and self-reported affective ratings, which are relevant for assessing attitude towards the task and providing indicators to the potential for using a SAR for a longer-term cognitive intervention. Additionally, we conducted exploratory analyses of eye movement strategies for memory encoding during the task. The results demonstrated a significant differential outcomes effect (DOE) on memory performance accuracy, regardless of Robot type and Challenge level, providing evidence that a DOE can still be obtained when a SAR interacts with participants. Moreover, the results from the affective ratings revealed that participants accompanied by the physical robot reported lower levels of stress and increased levels of control. Our results demonstrate, for the first time, a DOE using a SAR in a gamified context. This result, coupled with positive subjective reporting of the human-robot interactive experience of participants, demonstrates the potential for using a SAR to: (i) promote positive attitudes for a DOT-based cognitive intervention, without (ii) negatively affecting task performance.
|
|
| 32. |
- Mast, Marcus, et al.
(author)
-
Semi-Autonomous Domestic Service Robots : Evaluation of a User Interface for Remote Manipulation and Navigation With Focus on Effects of Stereoscopic Display
- 2015
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Netherlands. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 7:2, s. 183-202
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this article, we evaluate a novel type of user interface for remotely resolving challenging situations for service robots in domestic environments. Our focus is on potential advantages of stereoscopic display. The user interface is based on a control architecture that allows involvement of a remote human operator when the robot encounters a problem. It offers semi-autonomous remote manipulation and navigation with low-cost interaction devices, incorporates global 3D environment mapping, and follows an ecological visualization approach that integrates 2D laser data, 3D depth camera data, RGB data, a robot model, constantly updated global 2D and 3D environment maps, and indicators into a single 3D scene with user-adjustable viewpoints and optional viewpoint-based control. We carried out an experiment with 28 participants in a home-like environment investigating the utility of stereoscopic display for three types of task: defining the shape of an unknown or unrecognized object to be grasped, positioning the gripper for semi-autonomous reaching and grasping, and navigating the robot around obstacles. Participants were able to successfully complete all tasks and highly approved the user interface in both monoscopic and stereoscopic display modes. They were significantly faster under stereoscopic display in positioning the gripper. For the other two task types, there was a tendency for faster task completion in stereo mode that would need to be verified in further studies. We did not find significant differences in perceived workload between display types for any type of task. We conclude that stereoscopic display seems to be a useful optional display mode for this type of user interface but that its utility may vary depending on the task.
|
|
| 33. |
- Mendoza Trejo, Omar
(author)
-
Free Kinematic Singularity Controller for a Planetary Gear Based Cobot
- 2019
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 11, s. 211-218
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cobots are devices that interact with human operators to execute tasks in non deterministic and unstructured environments. Controlling a cobot can be seen as a path following problem, such that the controller restricts the motion of the device to the desired trajectory, impeding motion in orthogonal directions. Velocity control is a common strategy for path following, in the particular case of cobots, it allows the user to modulate the speed of the device while the controller changes the direction of motion as required. However, velocity controls are not suitable when the controller works or crosses through kinematic singularities, where bad conditioning of the velocity arises. In this paper a velocity control for cobots is presented, that is free of Jacobian singularities. The performance of the proposed controller is shown by experimental results in a two degree of freedom cobot with differential gear trains in serial configuration. Experimental results show that by using the proposed controller, cobotic systems performance is not affected by kinematic singularities, so, cobots can properly work in their whole workspace.
|
|
| 34. |
- Mohamed, Youssef, 1998-, et al.
(author)
-
Multi-modal Affect Detection Using Thermal and Optical Imaging in a Gamified Robotic Exercise
- 2023
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Affect recognition, or the ability to detect and interpret emotional states, has the potential to be a valuable tool in the field of healthcare. In particular, it can be useful in gamified therapy, which involves using gaming techniques to motivate and keep the engagement of patients in therapeutic activities. This study aims to examine the accuracy of machine learning models using thermal imaging and action unit data for affect classification in a gamified robot therapy scenario. A self-report survey and three machine learning models were used to assess emotions including frustration, boredom, and enjoyment in participants during different phases of the game. The results showed that the multimodal approach with the combination of thermal imaging and action units with LSTM model had the highest accuracy of 77% for emotion classification over a 7-s sliding window, while thermal imaging had the lowest standard deviation among participants. The results suggest that thermal imaging and action units can be effective in detecting affective states and might have the potential to be used in healthcare applications, such as gamified therapy, as a promising non-intrusive method for recognizing internal states.
|
|
| 35. |
- Moradbakhti, Laura, et al.
(author)
-
(Counter-)stereotypical Gendering of Robots in Care : Impact on Needs Satisfaction and Gender Role Concepts in Men and Women Users
- 2023
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 15, s. 1769-1790
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present a video-based online study (N = 222) examining the impacts of gendering an in-home, socially assistive robot designed to aid with rehabilitative engagement. Specifically, we consider the potential impact on users' basic psychological need (BPN) fulfillment alongside measures of the robot's effectiveness as well as the potential impact on human caregiver gender preferences and propensity to gender stereotype more broadly. Our results suggest that the male-gendering of care robots might be particularly beneficial for men, potentially leading to greater BPN fulfillment than female-gendering. Whilst women also showed some similar gender-matching preference (i.e. preferring the female-gendered robot) this effect was less pronounced. Men who saw the male-gendered robot were also significantly more likely to indicate they would prefer a man, or had no gender preference, when asked about human caregiver preferences. Overall, and in line with (some) previous work, we find no evidence of universal positive impact from robot task-gender typicality matching. Together, our results further strengthen existing calls to challenge the default female-gendering of assistive agents seen to date, suggesting that male-gendering might simultaneously boost positive impact for men users whilst challenging stereotypes regarding who can/should do care work.
|
|
| 36. |
- Morillo-Mendez, Lucas, 1991-, et al.
(author)
-
Age-Related Differences in the Perception of Robotic Referential Gaze in Human-Robot Interaction
- 2024
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 16:6, s. 1069-1081
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is an increased interest in using social robots to assist older adults during their daily life activities. As social robots are designed to interact with older users, it becomes relevant to study these interactions under the lens of social cognition. Gaze following, the social ability to infer where other people are looking at, deteriorates with older age. Therefore, the referential gaze from robots might not be an effective social cue to indicate spatial locations to older users. In this study, we explored the performance of older adults, middle-aged adults, and younger controls in a task assisted by the referential gaze of a Pepper robot. We examined age-related differences in task performance, and in self-reported social perception of the robot. Our main findings show that referential gaze from a robot benefited task performance, although the magnitude of this facilitation was lower for older participants. Moreover, perceived anthropomorphism of the robot varied less as a result of its referential gaze in older adults. This research supports that social robots, even if limited in their gazing capabilities, can be effectively perceived as social entities. Additionally, this research suggests that robotic social cues, usually validated with young participants, might be less optimal signs for older adults.Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12369-022-00926-6.
|
|
| 37. |
- Obaid, Mohammad, 1982, et al.
(author)
-
A Framework for User-Defined Body Gestures to Control a Humanoid Robot
- 2014
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4805 .- 1875-4791. ; 6:3, s. 383-396
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents a framework that allows users to interact with and navigate a humanoid robot using body gestures. The first part of the paper describes a study to define intuitive gestures for eleven navigational commands based on analyzing 385 gestures performed by 35 participants. From the study results, we present a taxonomy of the user-defined gesture sets, agreement scores for the gesture sets, and time performances of the gesture motions. The second part of the paper presents a full body interaction system for recognizing the user-defined gestures. We evaluate the system by recruiting 22 participants to test for the accuracy of the proposed system. The results show that most of the defined gestures can be successfully recognized with a precision between 86100 % and an accuracy between 7396 %. We discuss the limitations of the system and present future work improvements.
|
|
| 38. |
- Obaid, Mohammad, et al.
(author)
-
Developing a Prototyping Method for Involving Children in the Design of Classroom Robots
- 2018
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 10:2, s. 279-291
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Including children in the design of technologies that will have an impact on their daily lives is one of the pillars of user-centered design. Educational robots are an example of such a technology where children’s involvement is important. However, the form in which this involvement should take place is still unclear. Children do not have a lot of experience with educational robots yet, while they do have some ideas of what robot could be like from popular media, such as BayMax from the Big Hero 6 movie. In this paper we describe two pilot studies to inform the development of an elicitation method focusing on form factors; a first study in which we have asked children between 8 and 15 years old to design their own classroom robot using a toolkit, the Robo2Box, and a second study where we have compared the use of the Robo2Box toolkit and clay as elicitation methods. We present the results of the two studies, and discuss the implications of the outcomes to inform further development of the Robo2Box for prototyping classroom robots by children.
|
|
| 39. |
- Papadopoulos, Chris, et al.
(author)
-
The CARESSES Randomised Controlled Trial : Exploring the Health-Related Impact of Culturally Competent Artificial Intelligence Embedded Into Socially Assistive Robots and Tested in Older Adult Care Homes
- 2022
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 14, s. 245-256
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This trial represents the final stage of the CARESSES project which aimed to develop and evaluate a culturally competent artificial intelligent system embedded into social robots to support older adult wellbeing. A parallel group, single-blind randomised controlled trial was conducted across older adult care homes in England and Japan. Participants randomly allocated to the Experimental Group or Control Group 1 received a Pepper robot for up 18 h across 2 weeks. Two versions of the CARESSES artificial intelligence were tested: a fully culturally competent system (Experimental Group) and a more limited version (Control Group 1). Control Group 2 (Care As Usual) participants did not receive a robot. Quantitative outcomes of interest reported in the current paper were health-related quality of life (SF-36), loneliness (ULS-8), and perceptions of robotic cultural competence (CCATool-Robotics). Thirty-three residents completed all procedures. The difference in SF-36 Emotional Wellbeing scores between Experimental Group and Care As Usual participants over time was significant (F[1] = 6.614, sig = .019, ηp2 = .258), as was the comparison between Any Robot used and Care As Usual (F[1] = 5.128, sig = .031, ηp2 = .146). There were no significant changes in SF-36 physical health subscales. ULS-8 loneliness scores slightly improved among Experimental and Control Group 1 participants compared to Care As Usual participants, but this was not significant. This study brings new evidence which cautiously supports the value of culturally competent socially assistive robots in improving the psychological wellbeing of older adults residing in care settings.
|
|
| 40. |
|
|
| 41. |
|
|
| 42. |
- Perugia, Giulia, et al.
(author)
-
Robots Gendering Trouble: A Scoping Review of Gendering Humanoid Robots and Its Effects on HRI
- 2023
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : SPRINGER. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805.
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The discussion around gendering humanoid robots has gained more traction in the last few years. To lay the basis for a full comprehension of how robots "gender" has been understood within the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) community-i.e., how it has been manipulated, in which contexts, and which effects it has yielded on peoples perceptions and interactions with robots-we performed a scoping review of the literature. We identified 553 papers relevant for our review retrieved from 5 different databases. The final sample of reviewed papers included 35 papers written between 2005 and 2021, which involved a total of 3902 participants. In this article, we thoroughly summarize these papers by reporting information about their objectives and assumptions on gender (i.e., definitions and reasons to manipulate gender), their manipulation of robots "gender" (i.e., gender cues and manipulation checks), their experimental designs (e.g., demographics of participants, employed robots), and their results (i.e., main and interaction effects). The review reveals that robots "gender" does not affect crucial constructs for the HRI, such as likability and acceptance, but rather bears its strongest effect on stereotyping. We leverage our different epistemological backgrounds in Social Robotics and Gender Studies to provide a comprehensive interdisciplinary perspective on the results of the review and suggest ways to move forward in the field of HRI.
|
|
| 43. |
- Petisca, S., et al.
(author)
-
Human Dishonesty in the Presence of a Robot : The Effects of Situation Awareness
- 2022
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 14:5, s. 1211-1222
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Cheating has been extensively studied in Psychology and Economics, showing a variety of factors that can increase or decrease this behavior. Considering future human–robot interactions, where robots are being thought to be integrated in a variety of contexts, it is important to test which characteristics robots can have to prevent people from cheating. In this study (N = 123), we investigated whether people will cheat if an autonomous robot showed situationally aware behaviors towards the participant’s performance (i.e., intervened when they cheated). Our results showed that being in the presence of an aware robot is better at decreasing cheating behavior than being alone, and that there are no differences in cheating behavior between a non-aware robot or being alone. This study brings implications for the development of autonomous robots in roles where cheating might happen.
|
|
| 44. |
- Rato, Diogo, et al.
(author)
-
Robots in Games
- 2023
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 15:1, s. 37-57
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- During the past two decades, robots have been increasingly deployed in games. Researchers use games to better understand human-robot interaction and, in turn, the inclusion of social robots during gameplay creates new opportunities for novel game experiences. The contributions from social robotics and games communities cover a large spectrum of research questions using a wide variety of scenarios. In this article, we present the first comprehensive survey of the deployment of robots in games. We organise our findings according to four dimensions: (1) the societal impact of robots in games, (2) games as a research platform, (3) social interactions in games, and (4) game scenarios and materials. We discuss some significant research achievements and potential research avenues for the gaming and social robotics communities. This article describes the state of the art of the research on robots in games in the hope that it will assist researchers to contextualise their work in the field, to adhere to best practices and to identify future areas of research and multidisciplinary collaboration.
|
|
| 45. |
- Romic, Bojana
(author)
-
Negotiating anthropomorphism in the Ai-Da robot
- 2022
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 14, s. 2083-2093
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The central interest of this paper is the anthropomorphic social robot Ai-Da (Aidan Meller Gallery/Oxford University), perceived as an actor in the interplay of cultural and representational gestures. These gestures determine how this robot is presented—that is, how its activities are articulated, interpreted and promoted. This paper criticises the use of a transhistorical discourse in the presentational strategies around this robot, since this discourse reinforces the so-called “myth of a machine”. The discussion focuses on the individuation and embodiment of this drawing robot. It is argued that the choice to provide Ai-Da with an evocative silicone face, coupled with an anthropomorphic body, is a socio-political decision that shapes public imaginaries about social robots in general.
|
|
| 46. |
- Rosén, Julia, et al.
(author)
-
Previous Experience Matters : An in-Person Investigation of Expectations in Human–Robot Interaction
- 2024
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Nature. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 16:3, s. 447-460
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The human–robot interaction (HRI) field goes beyond the mere technical aspects of developing robots, often investigating how humans perceive robots. Human perceptions and behavior are determined, in part, by expectations. Given the impact of expectations on behavior, it is important to understand what expectations individuals bring into HRI settings and how those expectations may affect their interactions with the robot over time. For many people, social robots are not a common part of their experiences, thus any expectations they have of social robots are likely shaped by other sources. As a result, individual expectations coming into HRI settings may be highly variable. Although there has been some recent interest in expectations within the field, there is an overall lack of empirical investigation into its impacts on HRI, especially in-person robot interactions. To this end, a within-subject in-person study () was performed where participants were instructed to engage in open conversation with the social robot Pepper during two 2.5 min sessions. The robot was equipped with a custom dialogue system based on the GPT-3 large language model, allowing autonomous responses to verbal input. Participants’ affective changes towards the robot were assessed using three questionnaires, NARS, RAS, commonly used in HRI studies, and Closeness, based on the IOS scale. In addition to the three standard questionnaires, a custom question was administered to capture participants’ views on robot capabilities. All measures were collected three times, before the interaction with the robot, after the first interaction with the robot, and after the second interaction with the robot. Results revealed that participants to large degrees stayed with the expectations they had coming into the study, and in contrast to our hypothesis, none of the measured scales moved towards a common mean. Moreover, previous experience with robots was revealed to be a major factor of how participants experienced the robot in the study. These results could be interpreted as implying that expectations of robots are to large degrees decided before interactions with the robot, and that these expectations do not necessarily change as a result of the interaction. Results reveal a strong connection to how expectations are studied in social psychology and human-human interaction, underpinning its relevance for HRI research.
|
|
| 47. |
|
|
| 48. |
- Saeed, Nazeer, 1985-, et al.
(author)
-
Robot Semantic Protocol (RoboSemProc) for Semantic Environment Description and Human-Robot Communication
- 2020
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 12, s. 599-612
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the last decades, the focus has shifted towards mobile robots to link predictions, imagination, and expectations to human life in different aspects. A tremendous amount of research on mobile robots indicates their importance in various industrial and non-industrial fields such as production, medicine and agriculture. Despite all of these innovations in the field of robotics, intelligent mobile robots are facing challenges in processing the vast amount of sensory data from their sensory inputs. Due to the increasing amount of sensory data, a new demand is to process sensory inputs in an understandable form for both humans and robots. One approach to processing sensory data in a way that is understandable for both robots and humans is through the use of semantic technology, which is a major technology for building semantic knowledge bases in a machine-readable form. The success of semantic technology is highly reliant on ontologies which are considered the semantic knowledge representation. The huge amount of research in this field proves the undeniable impact of ontologies in the field of robotics. Yet, the work concerning the conversion of the sensory inputs from a mobile robot into semantic information in real-time are scarce. This transformation becomes more challenging when converting the sensory input of multiple sensors to a single semantic statement. The collection of semantic information for real-time ontology population is another challenge. In this regard, there is also a lack of work in transferring and using this information for natural language communication between humans and robots. This work addresses these challenges and employs semantic technology in the field of robotics to enable a mobile robot to create semantic information during exploration. In addition, the resulted semantic information is used for communicating information as well as facilitating communication between other robots and humans in a natural language.
|
|
| 49. |
- Sandewall, Erik
(author)
-
Ethics, Human Rights, the Intelligent Robot, and its Subsystem for Moral Beliefs
- 2021
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer. - 1875-4791 .- 1875-4805. ; 13:4, s. 557-567
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights specifies a number of properties that characterize human beings, such as dignity, conscience, and several others. In this article we focus on these properties and on how they have been defined in the history of philosophy. We show how they can be interpreted in terms of a prototypical architecture for an intelligent robot, and how the robot can be provided with several aspects of ethical capability in this way. The key idea is to provide the robot with a Moral Belief System that cooperates with, and moderates the robots capability of planning and action.
|
|
| 50. |
- Sandoval, E.B., et al.
(author)
-
Reciprocity in Human-Robot Interaction: A Quantitative Approach Through the Prisoner's Dilemma and the Ultimatum Game
- 2016
-
In: International Journal of Social Robotics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1875-4805 .- 1875-4791. ; 8:2, s. 303-317
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Reciprocity is an important factor in human-human interaction, so it can be expected that it should also play a major role in human-robot interaction (HRI). Participants in our study played the Repeated Prisoner's Dilemma Game (RPDG) and the mini Ultimatum Game (mUG) with robot and human agents, with the agents using either Tit for Tat (TfT) or Random strategies. As part of the study we also measured the perceived personality traits in the agents using the TIPI test after every round of RPDG and mUG. The results show that the participants collaborated more with humans than with a robot, however they tended to be equally reciprocal with both agents. The experiment also showed the TfT strategy as the most profitable strategy; affecting collaboration, reciprocation, profit and joint profit in the game. Most of the participants tended to be fairer with the human agent in mUG. Furthermore, robots were perceived as less open and agreeable than humans. Consciousness, extroversion and emotional stability were perceived roughly the same in humans and robots. TfT strategy became associated with an extroverted and agreeable personality in the agents. We could observe that the norm of reciprocity applied in HRI has potential implications for robot design.
|
|
