| 1. |
- Froese, Tom, et al.
(author)
-
Enactive artificial intelligence : Investigating the systemic organization of life and mind
- 2009
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In: Artificial Intelligence. - : Elsevier. - 0004-3702 .- 1872-7921. ; 173:3-4, s. 466-500
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The embodied and situated approach to artificial intelligence (AI) has matured and become a viable alternative to traditional computationalist approaches with respect to the practical goal of building artificial agents, which can behave in a robust and flexible manner under changing real-world conditions. Nevertheless, some concerns have recently been raised with regard to the sufficiency of current embodied AI for advancing our scientific understanding of intentional agency. While from an engineering or computer science perspective this limitation might not be relevant, it is of course highly relevant for AI researchers striving to build accurate models of natural cognition. We argue that the biological foundations of enactive cognitive science can provide the conceptual tools that are needed to diagnose more clearly the shortcomings of current embodied AI. In particular, taking an enactive perspective points to the need for AI to take seriously the organismic roots of autonomous agency and sense-making. We identify two necessary systemic requirements, namely constitutive autonomy and adaptivity, which lead us to introduce two design principles of enactive AI. It is argued that the development of such enactive AI poses a significant challenge to current methodologies. However, it also provides a promising way of eventually overcoming the current limitations of embodied AI, especially in terms of providing fuller models of natural embodied cognition. Finally, some practical implications and examples of the two design principles of enactive AI are also discussed.
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| 2. |
- Li, Jun
(author)
-
Learning reactive behaviors with constructive neural networks in mobile robotics
- 2006
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This thesis investigates a learning system for acquiring robot behaviors by mapping sensor information directly to motor actions. It addresses the integration of three learning paradigms, namely unsupervised learning (UL), supervised learning (SL), and reinforcement learning (RL). The approach is characterized by the use of constructive artificial neural networks (ANNs). The sensor-motor mappings acquired by the learning system form part of a tight "sense-learn-act" cycle, as opposed to "sense-plan-act", thus allowing the robot to learn concepts within its own sensorimotor experience while avoiding anthropomorphic bias.Novel techniques for robot learning using constructive radial basis function (RBF) networks are introduced. This leads to a self-organizing, incremental and local construction of the sensorimotor space for learning different behaviors with the same basic architecture, thus a great simplification of the engineering design process of the ANN's structure. Integration of the different learning paradigms takes place in a two-layer learning architecture.The lower layer with the UL and SL paradigms is used to quickly construct a controller for the required behavior. The upper layer with the RL paradigm is used for tuning and refining of the controller resulting from the lower layer (or a controller obtained from other prior knowledge) to further improve the robustness and performance of the behavior. Both layers apply constructive RBF networks, taking into account the different requirements of the respective learning paradigms.The learning system is verified by a number of experiments on a real robot. We begin our experiments with the lower layer together with a teaching-by-demonstration approach for acquiring different behaviors. The experimental results show that the lower layer can learn a wide range of robot behaviors, thus demonstrating the task non-specific nature of the architecture. We then demonstrate the necessity of the layered learning architecture for more complex behaviors by a docking behavior requiring precise positioning at a goal location. The results obtained show that learning with only the lower layer can not obtain robust performance and optimal trajectories, while learning with only the upper layer is impractical and even infeasible on the real robot due to the slow learning process of the RL paradigm. With layered learning, however, the upper layer is speeded up by bootstrapping from the learnedcontroller in the lower layer, and a robust and time-optimal controller can be obtained.
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| 3. |
- Aktius, Malin, et al.
(author)
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A Behavior-Based Model of the Hydra, Phylum Cnidaria
- 2007
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In: 9th European Conference, ECAL 2007. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 9783540749127 ; , s. 1024-1033
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Behavior-based artificial systems, e.g. mobile robots, are frequently designed using (various degrees and levels of) biology as inspiration, but rarely modeled based on actual quantitative empirical data. This paper presents a data-driven behavior-based model of a simple biological organism, the hydra. Four constituent behaviors were implemented in a simulated animal, and the overall behavior organization was accomplished using a colony-style architecture (CSA). The results indicate that the CSA, using a priority-based behavioral hierarchy suggested in the literature, can be used to model behavioral properties like latency, activation threshold, habituation, and duration of the individual behaviors of the hydra. Limitations of this behavior-based approach are also discussed.
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| 4. |
- Aktius, Malin, et al.
(author)
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Kognitiv robotik
- 2012. - 1
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In: Kognitionsvetenskap. - : Studentlitteratur. - 9789144051666 ; , s. 551-560
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)
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| 5. |
- Alenljung, Beatrice, et al.
(author)
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User Experience in Social Human-Robot Interaction
- 2017
-
In: International Journal of Ambient Computing and Intelligence (IJACI). - : I G I Global. - 1941-6237 .- 1941-6245. ; 8:2, s. 12-31
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Socially interactive robots are expected to have an increasing importance in human society. For social robots to provide long-term added value to people’s lives, it is of major importance to stressthe need for positive user experience (UX) of such robots. The human-centered view emphasizes various aspects that emerge in the interaction between humans and robots. However, a positive UX does not appear by itself but has to be designed for and evaluated systematically. In this paper, the focus is on the role and relevance of UX in human-robot interaction (HRI) and four trends concerning the role and relevance of UX related to socially interactive robots are identified, and three challenges related to its evaluation are also presented. It is argued that current research efforts and directions are not sufficient in HRI research, and that future research needs to further address interdisciplinary research in order to achieve long-term success of socially interactive robots.
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| 6. |
- Andler, Sten F., et al.
(author)
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Information Fusion from Databases, Sensors and Simulations : A Collaborative Research Program
- 2005
-
In: Proceedings. - : IEEE Computer Society. - 0769523064 ; , s. 234-241
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper provides an overview of a collaborative research program in information fusion from databases, sensors and simulations. Information fusion entails the combination of data from multiple sources, to generate information that cannot be derived from the individual sources. This area is of strategic importance for industry and defense, as well as public administration areas such as health care, and needs to be pursued as an academic subject. A large number of industrial partners are supporting and participating in the development of the area. The paper describes the program’s general approach and main research areas, with a particular focus on the role of information fusion in systems development
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| 7. |
- Axell, Cecilia, 1965-, et al.
(author)
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Artificial Intelligence in Contemporary Children’s Culture : A Case Study
- 2022
-
In: PATT 39. - : Memorial University of Newfoundland. - 9780889015050 ; , s. 376-386
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The overall aim of the school subject technology is to develop pupils’ understanding of technological solutions in everyday life. A starting point for this study is that it is important for teachers in technology to have knowledge of pupils’ prior conceptions of the subject content since these can both support and hinder their learning. In a previous study we found that when pupils (age 7) talk about digital technology and programming, they often refer to out-of-school experiences such as films, television programmes and books. Typically, their descriptions include robots with some form of intelligence. Hence, it seems like children’s culture may have an impact on the conceptions they bring to the technology classroom. In light of this, it is vital that technology teachers have knowledge about how robots and artificial intelligence (AI) are portrayed in children’s culture, and how pupils perceive these portrayals. However, knowledge about these aspects of technology in children’s culture is limited.The purpose of this study is to investigate how artifacts with artificial intelligence are portrayed in television programmes and literature aimed at children. This study is the first step in a larger study aiming to examine younger pupils’ conceptions and ideas about artificial intelligence. A novice conception of artificial intelligence can be described as an understanding of what a programmed device may, or may not, “understand” in relation to a human, which includes discerning th edifferences between the artificial and the human mind. Consequently, as a theoretical framework for investigating how artificial intelligence is portrayed in children’s culture, the concepts of Theoryof Mind (ToM) and Theory of Artificial Mind (ToAM), are used. The empirical material presented in this paper, i.e. four children’s books and a popular children’s television programme, was analysed using a qualitative thematic analysis. The results show that the portrayal of AI is ambiguous. The structure and function of the robot has elements of both human and machine, and the view of the human fictional characters of the robot is sometimes that of a machine, sometimes of a human. In addition, the whole empirical material includes portrayals of AI as a threat as well as a saviour. As regards implications, there is a risk that without real-life experiences of robots, the representations children’s books and other media convey can lead to ambivalent feelings towards real robots.
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| 8. |
- Babel, Franziska, et al.
(author)
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Cars As Social Agents (CarSA): A Perspective Shift in Human-Vehicle Interaction
- 2023
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In: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11TH CONFERENCE ON HUMAN-AGENT INTERACTION, HAI 2023. - : ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY. - 9798400708244 ; , s. 498-499
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The rapid advancement of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology has opened up new possibilities and challenges in the domain of human-agent interaction. As AVs become increasingly prevalent on our roads, it is crucial to understand how humans perceive and interact with these intelligent systems. This workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners to explore the perception of cars as social agents. We explore the shift in user perception and the implications for interactions between autonomous vehicles, human drivers, and vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, etc.). Additionally, we investigate the communication of goals and intentions between cars and humans, as well as issues related to mixed agency, stakeholder perspectives, in-vehicle avatars, and human-vehicle power dynamics. The workshop aims to uncover the benefits, risks, and design principles associated with this emerging paradigm.
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| 9. |
- Babel, Franziska, et al.
(author)
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Cyclists' Perception of Automated Shuttle Buses in Shared Spaces
- 2023
-
In: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 11TH CONFERENCE ON HUMAN-AGENT INTERACTION, HAI 2023. - : ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY. - 9798400708244 ; , s. 467-469
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As automated shuttle buses gradually become a part of urban traffic solutions, their interactions with vulnerable road users need careful consideration. However, the cyclists' perspectives on autonomous shuttle buses have not been explored extensively. This research addresses this gap by surveying 50 cyclists who regularly encounter automated shuttle buses. The results show that, in general, cyclists exhibit a high level of trust in the safety of the buses. Nevertheless, approximately one-third of the cyclists expressed disapproval as the buses tend to drive on the bicycle lane, leading them to wish for infrastructural solutions to avoid forcing cyclists to divert to pedestrian walkways. Identifying potential conflicts like these is vital for the development of effective and acceptable human-agent interactions in road traffic environments.
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Billing, Erik, 1981-
(author)
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Cognition reversed : Robot learning from demonstration
- 2009
-
Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The work presented in this thesis investigates techniques for learning from demonstration (LFD). LFD is a well established approach to robot learning, where a teacher demonstrates a behavior to a robot pupil. This thesis focuses on LFD where a human teacher demonstrates a behavior by controlling the robot via teleoperation. The robot should after demonstration be able to execute the demonstrated behavior under varying conditions. Several views on representation, recognition and learning of robot behavior are presented and discussed from a cognitive and computational perspective. LFD-related concepts such as behavior, goal, demonstration, and repetition are defined and analyzed, with focus on how bias is introduced by the use of behavior primitives. This analysis results in a formalism where LFD is described as transitions between information spaces. Assuming that the behavior recognition problem is partly solved, ways to deal with remaining ambiguities in the interpretation of a demonstration are proposed. A total of five algorithms for behavior recognition are proposed and evaluated, including the dynamic temporal difference algorithm Predictive Sequence Learning (PSL). PSL is model-free in the sense that it makes few assumptions of what is to be learned. One strength of PSL is that it can be used for both robot control and recognition of behavior. While many methods for behavior recognition are concerned with identifying invariants within a set of demonstrations, PSL takes a different approach by using purely predictive measures. This may be one way to reduce the need for bias in learning. PSL is, in its current form, subjected to combinatorial explosion as the input space grows, which makes it necessary to introduce some higher level coordination for learning of complex behaviors in real-world robots. The thesis also gives a broad introduction to computational models of the human brain, where a tight coupling between perception and action plays a central role. With the focus on generation of bias, typical features of existing attempts to explain humans' and other animals' ability to learn are presented and analyzed, from both a neurological and an information theoretic perspective. Based on this analysis, four requirements for implementing general learning ability in robots are proposed. These requirements provide guidance to how a coordinating structure around PSL and similar algorithms should be implemented in a model-free way.
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| 12. |
- Billing, Erik, 1981-, et al.
(author)
-
Finding Your Way from the Bed to the Kitchen: Reenacting and Recombining Sensorimotor Episodes Learned from Human Demonstration
- 2016
-
In: Frontiers in Robotics and Ai. - Lausanne, Switzerland : Frontiers Media SA. - 2296-9144. ; 3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Several simulation theories have been proposed as an explanation for how humans and other agents internalize an "inner world" that allows them to simulate interactions with the external real world - prospectively and retrospectively. Such internal simulation of interaction with the environment has been argued to be a key mechanism behind mentalizing and planning. In the present work, we study internal simulations in a robot acting in a simulated human environment. A model of sensory-motor interactions with the environment is generated from human demonstrations and tested on a Robosoft Kompai robot. The model is used as a controller for the robot, reproducing the demonstrated behavior. Information from several different demonstrations is mixed, allowing the robot to produce novel paths through the environment, toward a goal specified by top-down contextual information. The robot model is also used in a covert mode, where the execution of actions is inhibited and perceptions are generated by a forward model. As a result, the robot generates an internal simulation of the sensory-motor interactions with the environment. Similar to the overt mode, the model is able to reproduce the demonstrated behavior as internal simulations. When experiences from several demonstrations are combined with a top-down goal signal, the system produces internal simulations of novel paths through the environment. These results can be understood as the robot imagining an "inner world" generated from previous experience, allowing it to try out different possible futures without executing actions overtly. We found that the success rate in terms of reaching the specified goal was higher during internal simulation, compared to overt action. These results are linked to a reduction in prediction errors generated during covert action. Despite the fact that the model is quite successful in terms of generating covert behavior toward specified goals, internal simulations display different temporal distributions compared to their overt counterparts. Links to human cognition and specifically mental imagery are discussed.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
- Billing, Erik, PhD, 1981-, et al.
(author)
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The DREAM Dataset : Supporting a data-driven study of autism spectrum disorder and robot enhanced therapy
- 2020
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 15:8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present a dataset of behavioral data recorded from 61 children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The data was collected during a large-scale evaluation of Robot Enhanced Therapy (RET). The dataset covers over 3000 therapy sessions and more than 300 hours of therapy. Half of the children interacted with the social robot NAO supervised by a therapist. The other half, constituting a control group, interacted directly with a therapist. Both groups followed the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) protocol. Each session was recorded with three RGB cameras and two RGBD (Kinect) cameras, providing detailed information of children’s behavior during therapy. This public release of the dataset comprises body motion, head position and orientation, and eye gaze variables, all specified as 3D data in a joint frame of reference. In addition, metadata including participant age, gender, and autism diagnosis (ADOS) variables are included. We release this data with the hope of supporting further data-driven studies towards improved therapy methods as well as a better understanding of ASD in general.
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| 15. |
- Biro, Zoltan, et al.
(author)
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Evolution of visually-guided approach behaviour in recurrent artificial neural network robot controllers
- 1998
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Analysis of internal structures of embodied and situated agents may provide insights into the mechanisms underlying adaptive behaviour. This paper is concerned with the evolution and analysis of visually-guided approach behaviour in a simulated robotic agent controlled by a recurrent artificial neural network, whose connection weights have been evolved using evolutionary algorithms. Analysis of the evolved behaviours and their network-internal mechanisms reveals a behavioural structure and organization resembling a Brooksian subsumption architecture. The task decomposition, as well as the resulting individual behaviours and their integration, however, are realized as network-internal state space dynamics, evolved in the course of agent-environment interaction, i.e. with a minimum of designer intervention.
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| 16. |
- Bjurling, Oscar, et al.
(author)
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Drone Swarms in Forest Firefighting : A Local Development Case Study of Multi-Level Human-Swarm Interaction
- 2020
-
In: ACM International Conference Proceeding Series. - New York, NY, USA : Association for Computing Machinery. - 9781450375795
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Swarms of autonomous and coordinating Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are rapidly being developed to enable simultaneous control of multiple UAVs. In the field of Human-Swarm Interaction (HSI), researchers develop and study swarm algorithms and various means of control and evaluate their cognitive and task performance. There is, however, a lack of research describing how UAV swarms will fit into future real-world domain contexts. To remedy this, this paper describes a case study conducted within the community of firefighters, more precisely two Swedish fire departments that regularly deploy UAVs in fire responses. Based on an initial description of how their UAVs are used in a forest firefighting context, participating UAV operators and unit commanders envisioned a scenario that showed how the swarm and its capabilities could be utilized given the constraints and requirements of a forest firefighting mission. Based on this swarm scenario description we developed a swarm interaction model that describes how the operators' interaction traverses multiple levels ranging from the entire swarm, via subswarms and individual UAVs, to specific sensors and equipment carried by the UAVs. The results suggest that human-in-the-loop simulation studies need to enable interaction across multiple swarm levels as this interaction may exert additional cognitive strain on the human operator.
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| 17. |
- Bjurling, Oscar, et al.
(author)
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Swarms, teams, or choirs? : Metaphors in multi-UAV systems design
- 2021
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In: Advances in Human Factors in Robots, Unmanned Systems and Cybersecurity. - Cham : Springer International Publishing. - 9783030799960 - 9783030799977 ; , s. 10-15
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Future Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are projected to fly and operate in swarms. The swarm metaphor makes explicit and implicit mappings regarding system architecture and human interaction to aspects of natural systems, such as bee societies. Compared to the metaphor of a team, swarming agents as individuals are less capable, more expendable, and more limited in terms of communication and coordination. Given their different features and limitations, the two metaphors could be useful in different scenarios. We also discuss a choir metaphor and illustrate how it can give rise to different design concepts. We conclude that designers and engineers should be mindful of the metaphors they use because they influence—and limit—how to think about and design for multi-UAV systems.
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| 18. |
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Boström, Henrik, et al.
(author)
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On the Definition of Information Fusion as a Field of Research
- 2007
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- A more precise definition of the field of information fusion can be of benefit to researchers within the field, who may use uch a definition when motivating their own work and evaluating the contribution of others. Moreover, it can enable researchers and practitioners outside the field to more easily relate their own work to the field and more easily understand the scope of the techniques and methods developed in the field. Previous definitions of information fusion are reviewed from that perspective, including definitions of data and sensor fusion, and their appropriateness as definitions for the entire research field are discussed. Based on strengths and weaknesses of existing definitions, a novel definition is proposed, which is argued to effectively fulfill the requirements that can be put on a definition of information fusion as a field of research.
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| 21. |
- Buason, Gunnar, et al.
(author)
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Brains, Bodies and Beyond : Competitive Co-Evolution of Robot Controllers, Morphologies and Environments
- 2005
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In: Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines. - : Springer. - 1389-2576 .- 1573-7632. ; 6:1, s. 25-51
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents a series of simulation experiments that incrementally extend previous work on neural robot controllers in a predator-prey scenario, in particular the work of Floreano and Nolfi, and integrates it with ideas from work on the ‘co-evolution’ of robot morphologies and control systems. The aim of these experiments has been to further systematically investigate the tradeoffs and interdependencies between morphological parameters and behavioral strategies through a series of predator-prey experiments in which increasingly many aspects are subject to self-organization through competitive co-evolution. Motivated by the fact that, despite the emphasis of the interdependence of brain, body and environment in much recent research, the environment has actually received relatively little attention, the last set of experiments lets robots/species actively adapt their environments to their own needs, rather than just adapting themselves to a given environment.
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| 22. |
- Cai, Haibin, et al.
(author)
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Sensing-enhanced Therapy System for Assessing Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders : A Feasibility Study
- 2019
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In: IEEE Sensors Journal. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 1530-437X .- 1558-1748. ; 19:4, s. 1508-1518
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is evident that recently reported robot-assisted therapy systems for assessment of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) lack autonomous interaction abilities and require significant human resources. This paper proposes a sensing system that automatically extracts and fuses sensory features such as body motion features, facial expressions, and gaze features, further assessing the children behaviours by mapping them to therapist-specified behavioural classes. Experimental results show that the developed system has a capability of interpreting characteristic data of children with ASD, thus has the potential to increase the autonomy of robots under the supervision of a therapist and enhance the quality of the digital description of children with ASD. The research outcomes pave the way to a feasible machine-assisted system for their behaviour assessment. IEEE
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| 23. |
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| 24. |
- Chersi, Fabian, et al.
(author)
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Sentence processing : linking language to motor chains
- 2010
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In: Frontiers in Neurorobotics. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1662-5218. ; 4
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A growing body of evidence in cognitive science and neuroscience points towards the existence of a deep interconnection between cognition, perception and action. According to this embodied perspective language is grounded in the sensorimotor system and language understanding is based on a mental simulation process (Jeannerod, 2007; Gallese, 2008; Barsalou, 2009). This means that during action words and sentence comprehension the same perception, action, and emotion mechanisms implied during interaction with objects are recruited. Among the neural underpinnings of this simulation process an important role is played by a sensorimotor matching system known as the mirror neuron system (Rizzolatti and Craighero, 2004). Despite a growing number of studies, the precise dynamics underlying the relation between language and action are not yet well understood. In fact, experimental studies are not always coherent as some report that language processing interferes with action execution while others find facilitation. In this work we present a detailed neural network model capable of reproducing experimentally observed influences of the processing of action-related sentences on the execution of motor sequences. The proposed model is based on three main points. The first is that the processing of action-related sentences causes the resonance of motor and mirror neurons encoding the corresponding actions. The second is that there exists a varying degree of crosstalk between neuronal populations depending on whether they encode the same motor act, the same effector or the same action-goal. The third is the fact that neuronal populations’ internal dynamics, which results from the combination of multiple processes taking place at different time scales, can facilitate or interfere with successive activations of the same or of partially overlapping pools.
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| 25. |
- Chilufya, Emma Mainza, 1986-, et al.
(author)
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A Comparative Study of Physical and Virtual Reality Prototyping of a Migrating Agent Interface
- 2023
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In: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction. - New York, NY, USA : Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). - 9798400708244 ; , s. 369-371
-
Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Prototyping methods are commonly employed iteratively throughout the design and product development, typically ranging from early low-fidelity to later high-fidelity prototypes. We present a case study focusing on prototyping a receptionist agent migrating between three platforms (a monitor on the wall, a mobile phone, and a physical robot). More specifically, we compare virtual reality (VR) and physical (real world) prototyping methods. The two methods are compared in terms of fidelity and usability. The breadth of features, the degree of functionality, and the interactivity were similar. However, the aesthetic refinement differed. The VR prototyping method also had much higher prerequisites in terms of equipment and skills, and the learning curve for the designer was steep. Both methods were equally efficient in user testing, but the VR method revealed more usability issues in the efficiency category, while the physical space method revealed more issues in the effectiveness category.
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| 26. |
- Chilufya, Emma Mainza, et al.
(author)
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Prototypes of a Migrating Receptionist in Physical and Virtual Space
- 2023
-
In: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD ACM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INTELLIGENT VIRTUAL AGENTS, IVA 2023. - : ASSOC COMPUTING MACHINERY. - 9781450399944
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A migrating receptionist is an intelligent virtual agent (IVA) designed to transfer from one embodiment to another. The embodiment can range from a virtual human-like form to a physical robot. We present a study of the prototyping and evaluation of a migrating virtual receptionist interface. One prototype was made in virtual reality (VR) and one in physical space. The study looks at how to design a migrating virtual receptionist for a department of computer science. The virtual receptionist was designed to migrate from a screen by the entrance, to a mobile phone used while walking, and then to a robot in the coffee area. The evaluation was conducted with 23 participants who interacted with the virtual receptionist using both prototypes. Data was collected with the System Usability Scale (SUS) and Microsoft Reaction Cards. Although the physical space and the virtual space were different, the results of the evaluation are similar. The SUS mean was 83.9 for the physical space and 78.3 for the virtual space. The reaction cards also showed more positive than negative reactions for both prototypes.
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| 27. |
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| 28. |
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| 29. |
- Einarsson, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Exploring the Multi-Layered Affordances of Composing and Performing Interactive Music with Responsive Technologies
- 2017
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In: Frontiers in Psychology. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1664-1078. ; 8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The question motivating the work presented here, starting from a view of music as embodied and situated activity, is how can we account for the complexity of interactive music performance situations. These are situations in which human performers interact with responsive technologies, such as sensor-driven technology or sound synthesis affected by analysis of the performed sound signal. This requires investigating in detail the underlying mechanisms, but also providing a more holistic approach that does not lose track of the complex whole constituted by the interactions and relationships of composers, performers, audience, technologies, etc. The concept of affordances has frequently been invoked in musical research, which has seen a "bodily turn" in recent years, similar to the development of the embodied cognition approach in the cognitive sciences. We therefore begin by broadly delineating its usage in the cognitive sciences in general, and in music research in particular. We argue that what is still missing in the discourse on musical affordances is an encompassing theoretical framework incorporating the sociocultural dimensions that are fundamental to the situatedness and embodiment of interactive music performance and composition. We further argue that the cultural affordances framework, proposed by Rietveld and Kiverstein (2014) and recently articulated further by Ramstead et al. (2016) in this journal, although not previously applied to music, constitutes a promising starting point. It captures and elucidates this complex web of relationships in terms of shared landscapes and individual fields of affordances. We illustrate this with examples foremost from the first author's artistic work as composer and performer of interactive music. This sheds new light on musical composition as a process of construction-and embodied mental simulation-of situations, guiding the performers' and audience's attention in shifting fields of affordances. More generally, we believe that the theoretical perspectives and concrete examples discussed in this paper help to elucidate how situations-and with them affordances-are dynamically constructed through the interactions of various mechanisms as people engage in embodied and situated activity.
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| 30. |
- Einarsson, Anna
(author)
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Singing the body electric : Understanding the role of embodiment in performing and composing interactive music
- 2017
-
Artistic work (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Almost since the birth of electronic music, composers have been fascinated by the prospect of integrating the human voice with its expressiveness and complexity into electronic musical works. This thesis addresses how performing with responsive technologies in mixed works, i.e. works that combine an acoustic sound source with a digital one, is experienced by participating singers, adopting an approach of seamlessness, of zero – or invisible – interface, between singer and computer technology. It demonstrates how the practice of composing and the practice of singing both are embodied activities, where the many-layered situation in all its complexity is of great importance for a deepened understanding. The overall perspective put forward in this thesis is that of music as a sounding body to resonate with, where the resonance, a process of embodying, of feeling and emotion, guides the decision-making. The core of the investigation is the lived experiences through the process of composing and performing three musical works. One result emerging from this process is the suggested method of calibration, according to which a bodily rooted attention forms a kind of joint attention towards the work in the making. Experiences from these three musical works arrive in the formulation of an over-arching framework entailing a view of musical composition as a process of construction – and embodied mental simulation – of situations, whose dynamics unfold to engage musicians and audience through shifting fields of affordances, based on a shared landscape of affordances.
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| 31. |
- Ekanayake, Hiran, et al.
(author)
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Assessing Performance Competence in Training Games
- 2011
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In: Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 9783642245701 - 9783642245718 ; , s. 518-527
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In-process assessment of trainee learners in game-based simulators is a challenging activity. This typically involves human instructor time and cost, and does not scale to the one tutor per learner vision of computer-based learning. Moreover, evaluation from a human instructor is often subjective and comparisons between learners are not accurate. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an automated, formula-driven quantitative evaluation method for assessing performance competence in serious training games. Our proposed method has been empirically validated in a game-based driving simulator using 7 subjects and 13 sessions, and accuracy up to 90.25% has been achieved when compared to an existing qualitative method. We believe that by incorporating quantitative evaluation methods like these future training games could be enriched with more meaningful feedback and adaptive game-play so as to better monitor and support player motivation, engagement and learning performance.
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| 32. |
- Ekanayake, Hiran B., et al.
(author)
-
Affective Realism of Animated Films in the Development of Simulation-Based Tutoring Systems
- 2013
-
In: International Journal of Distance Education Technologies. - : IGI Global. - 1539-3100 .- 1539-3119. ; 11:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents a study focused on comparing real actors based scenarios and animated characters based scenarios with respect to their similarity in evoking psychophysiological activity for certain events by measuring galvanic skin response (GSR). In the experiment, one group (n=11) watched the real actors’ film whereas another group (n=7) watched the animated film, which had the same story and dialogue as the real actors’ film. The results have shown that there is no significant difference in the skin conductance response (SCR) scores between the two groups; however, responses significantly differ when SCR amplitudes are taken into account. Moreover, Pearson’s correlation reported as high as over 80% correlation between the two groups’ SCRs for certain time intervals. The authors believe that this finding is of general importance for the domain of simulation-based tutoring systems in development of and decisions regarding use of animated characters based scenarios.
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| 33. |
- Ekanayake, Hiran B., et al.
(author)
-
Comparing Expert and Novice Driving Behavior in a Driving Simulator
- 2013
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In: Interaction Design and Architecture(s) Journal - IxD&A. - : Interaction Design and Architecture(s). - 1826-9745 .- 2283-2998. ; :19, s. 115-131
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper presents a study focused on comparing driving behavior of expert and novice drivers in a mid-range driving simulator with the intention of evaluating the validity of driving simulators for driver training. For the investigation, measurements of performance, psychophysiological measurements, and self-reported user experience under different conditions of driving tracks and driving sessions were analyzed. We calculated correlationsbetween quantitative and qualitative measures to enhance the reliability of the findings. The experiment was conducted involving 14 experienced drivers and 17 novice drivers. The results indicate that driving behaviors of expert and novice drivers differ from each other in several ways but it heavily depends on the characteristics of the task. Moreover, our belief is that the analytical framework proposed in this paper can be used as a tool for selecting appropriate driving tasks as well as for evaluating driving performance in driving simulators.
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| 34. |
- Ekanayake, Hiran B., et al.
(author)
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Comparing expert driving behavior in real world and simulator contexts
- 2013
-
In: International Journal of Computer Games Technology. - : Hindawi Publishing Corporation. - 1687-7047 .- 1687-7055.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Computer games are increasingly used for purposes beyond mere entertainment, and current hi-tech simulators can provide quite, naturalistic contexts for purposes such as traffic education. One of the critical concerns in this area is the validity or transferability of acquired skills from a simulator to the real world context. In this paper, we present our work in which we compared driving in the real world with that in the simulator at two levels, that is, by using performance measures alone, and by combining psychophysiological measures with performance measures. For our study, we gathered data using questionnaires as well as by logging vehicle dynamics, environmental conditions, video data, and users' psychophysiological measurements. For the analysis, we used several novel approaches such as scatter plots to visualize driving tasks of different contexts and to obtain vigilance estimators from electroencephalographic (EEG) data in order to obtain important results about the differences between the driving in the two contexts. Our belief is that both experimental procedures and findings of our experiment are very important to the field of serious games concerning how to evaluate the fitness of driving simulators and measure driving performance. © 2013 Hiran B. Ekanayake et al.
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| 35. |
- Ekanayake, Hiran B., 1978-
(author)
-
Validating User Engagement and Effectiveness of Training Simulations : A mixed-methods approach informed by embodied cognition and psychophysiological measures
- 2015
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Simulation-based training has gained widespread attention recently as a response to drawbacks associated with traditional training approaches, such as high training costs (instructors, equipment, etc.), high risks (e.g. pilot training), and ethical issues (e.g. medical training), as well as a lack of availability of certain training environments (e.g. space exploration). Apart from their target training domains, many of aspects of simulations differ, such as their degree of physical realism (fidelity), scenarios (e.g. story), and pedagogical aspects (e.g. after-action reviews and collaborative learning). Among those aspects, designers have mostly focused on developing high-fidelity simulations with the expectation of increasing the effectiveness of training. However, some authors suggest that the above belief is a myth as researchers have failed to identify a linear relationship between the (physical) fidelity and training effectiveness of simulations. Most researchers have therefore evaluated the correspondence between the behaviours of trainees in both real world and simulated contexts, however, the existing methods of simulation validation using behavioural measures have a number of drawbacks, such as the fact that they do not address certain complex phenomena of skills acquisition.Bridging the above knowledge gap, this research reports on empirical investigations using an improved methodology for validating training simulations. This research includes an investigation of the user experience of trainees, with respect to the acceptance of virtual scenarios provoking a similar psychophysiological response as in real world scenarios, and the training potential of simulations with respect to the positive transfer of training from a simulator to real world operational contexts. The most prominent features of the proposed methodology include the use of psychophysiological measures in addition to traditional behavioural measures and the use of natural (quasi-) experiments. Moreover, its conceptual framework was influenced by contemporary theories in cognitive science (e.g. constructivism and embodied cognition). The results of this research have several important theoretical and methodological implications, involving, for example, the dependency of the effectiveness of simulations on the perceived realism of trainees, which is more embodied than has been predicted by previous researchers, and the requirement of several different types/levels of adaptive training experience, depending on the type of trainee.
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| 36. |
- Ekanayake, Hiran, et al.
(author)
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Game Interaction State Graphs for Evaluation of User Engagement in Explorative and Experience-based Training Games
- 2010
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In: 2010 International Conference on Advances in ICT for Emerging Regions (ICTer). - : IEEE conference proceedings. - 9781424490417 ; , s. 40-44
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is an increasing interest to use computer games for non-traditional education, such as for training purposes. For training education, simulators are considered as offering more realistic learning environments to experience situations that are similar to real world. This type of learning is more beneficial for practicing critical situations which are difficult or impossible in real world training, for instance experience the consequences of unsafe driving. However, the effectiveness of simulation-based learning of this nature is dependent upon the learner's engagement and explorative behaviour. Most current learner evaluation systems are unable to capture this type of learning. Therefore, in this paper we introduce the concept of game interaction state graphs (GISGs) to capture the engagement in explorative and experience-based training tasks. These graphs are constructed based on rules which capture psychologically significant learner behaviours and situations. Simple variables reflecting game state and learner's controller actions provide the ingredients to the rules. This approach eliminates the complexity involved with other similar approaches, such as constructing a full-fledged cognitive model for the learner. GISGs, at minimum, can be used to evaluate the explorative behaviour, the training performance and personal preferences of a learner.
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| 37. |
- Elgarf, Maha
(author)
-
Child-Robot Behavioral Alignment and Creativity Performance
- 2022
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In recent years, robots have been prevalent in almost all domains. One of the most common applications of social robotics is for education with children. This dissertation addresses the integration of creativity-related education in child-robot interactions. Creativity is a required skill in the 21st century. It is regarded by many researchers as an essential survival skill. It has been established that current educational methods limit children's freedom of expression and therefore, negatively impact their creative abilities. To date, a few research attempts have focused on developing social child-robot interactions to foster children's creativity. In this work, methods were investigated to boost children's creativity skills through social interactions with a robot in a storytelling context. To define and evaluate creativity, standard four creativity measures were used throughout the thesis: fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originality. First, a social activity was developed to be performed between a social robot and a child. The activity comprises of two games: an interactive priming game and a storytelling game. The activity has been used throughout the thesis to evaluate implemented algorithms and methods. Second, 3 field studies were conducted with 210 school-aged children (5-10 years old). In these studies, the developed activity was used and notions of emotional alignment and creativity alignment between a child and a social robot were examined. In the context of this work, the concept of behavioral alignment refers to the synchronisation between the robot and the child that results in the child mirroring the robot. Emotional alignment occurs when a child mirrors the robot's emotions. Whereas, creativity alignment results in the child behaving creatively as an effect of interacting with a creative robot. Through the conducted studies, the effects of the various types of child-robot behavioral alignment on children's emotional states, engagement with the robot and children's creativity skills were investigated. Third, a computational model that enables a conversational agent to collaboratively interact with a child in a storytelling activity in a creative manner was produced. The computational model was implemented to be used in an integrated manner with the software interface of the storytelling game. The data collected in the first two studies was used to train the computational model that was assessed through the third and last study.The findings highlight the effectiveness of social robots in promoting children's creativity skills. They emphasize the potential of the developed educational application (storytelling game interface + computational model) in improving children's creative abilities. This work enriches the literature with new insights on developing robot's behaviors that benefit children's creative processes and therefore, is significant to the child-robot interaction (cHRI) community.
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| 38. |
- Esteban, Pablo G., et al.
(author)
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How to Build a Supervised Autonomous System for Robot-Enhanced Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- 2017
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In: Paladyn - Journal of Behavioral Robotics. - : De Gruyter Open. - 2080-9778 .- 2081-4836. ; 8:1, s. 18-38
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Robot-Assisted Therapy (RAT) has successfully been used to improve social skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) through remote control of the robot in so-called Wizard of Oz (WoZ) paradigms.However, there is a need to increase the autonomy of the robot both to lighten the burden on human therapists (who have to remain in control and, importantly, supervise the robot) and to provide a consistent therapeutic experience. This paper seeks to provide insight into increasing the autonomy level of social robots in therapy to move beyond WoZ. With the final aim of improved human-human social interaction for the children, this multidisciplinary research seeks to facilitate the use of social robots as tools in clinical situations by addressing the challenge of increasing robot autonomy.We introduce the clinical framework in which the developments are tested, alongside initial data obtained from patients in a first phase of the project using a WoZ set-up mimicking the targeted supervised-autonomy behaviour. We further describe the implemented system architecture capable of providing the robot with supervised autonomy.
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| 39. |
- Federici, Diego, et al.
(author)
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Why are evolved developing organisms also fault-tolerant?
- 2006
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In: FROM ANIMALS TO ANIMATS 9, PROCEEDINGS. - : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 3540386084 ; , s. 449-460
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It has been suggested that evolving developmental programs instead of direct genotype-phenotype mappings may increase the scalability of Genetic Algorithms. Many of these Artificial Embryogeny (AE) models have been proposed and their evolutionary properties are being investigated. One of these properties concerns the fault-tolerance of at least a particular class of AE, which models the development of artificial multicellular organisms. It has been shown that such AE evolves designs capable of recovering phenotypic faults during development, even if fault-tolerance is not selected for during evolution. This type of adaptivity is clearly very interesting both for theoretical reasons and possible robotic applications. In this paper we provide empirical evidence collected from a multicellular AE model showing a subtle relationship between evolution and development. These results explain why developmental fault-tolerance necessarily emerges during evolution.
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| 40. |
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| 41. |
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| 42. |
- Herrera, Carlos, et al.
(author)
-
Behavioral Flexibility : An Emotion Based Approach
- 2007
-
In: Computational and Ambient Intelligence. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer. - 9783540730064 - 9783540730071 ; , s. 798-805
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper we suggest a biologically inspired approach to flexible behavior through emotion modeling. We consider emotion to emerge from relational interaction of body, nervous system and world, through sensory-motor attunement of internal parameters to concern-relevant relationships. We interpret such relationships with the notions of collective variable and control parameters. We introduce a simple robotic implementation of this model of appraisal, following the techniques of evolutionary neuro-robotics.
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| 43. |
- Herrera, Carlos, et al.
(author)
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The Role of Internal States in the Emergence of Motivation and Preference : A Robotics Approach
- 2007
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In: Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 9783540748885 - 9783540748892 ; , s. 798-805
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In order to explain and model emotion we need to attend to the role internal states play in the generation of behavior. We argue that motivational and perceptual roles emerge from the dynamical interaction between physiological processes, sensory-motor processes and the environment. We investigate two aspects inherent to emotion appraisal and response which rely on physiological process: the ability to categorize relations with the environment and to modulate response generating different action tendencies.
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| 44. |
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| 45. |
- Jacobsson, Henrik, et al.
(author)
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Reducing Complexity of Rule Extraction from Prediction RNNs trough Domain Interaction
- 2003
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This paper presents a quantitative investigation of the differences between rule extraction through breadth first search and through sampling the states of the RNN in interaction with its domain. We show that for an RNN trained to predict symbol sequences in formal grammar domains, the breadth first search is especially inefficient for languages sharing properties with realistic real world domains. We also identify some important research issues, needed to be resolved to ensure further development in the field of rule extraction from RNNs.
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| 46. |
- Jakobsson, Henrik, et al.
(author)
-
CrySSMEx, a novel rule extractor for recurrent neural networks : Overview and case study
- 2005
-
In: Artificial Neural Networks: Formal Models and Their Applications. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 3540287558 - 9783540287551 - 9783540287568 ; , s. 503-508
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper, it will be shown that it is feasible to extract finite state machines in a domain of, for rule extraction, previously unencountered complexity. The algorithm used is called the Crystallizing Substochastic Sequential Machine Extractor, or CrySSMEx. It extracts the machine from sequence data generated from the RNN in interaction with its domain. CrySSMEx is parameter free, deterministic and generates a sequence of increasingly deterministic extracted stochastic models until a fully deterministic machine is found.
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| 47. |
- Jerčić, Petar
(author)
-
The Effects of Emotions and Their Regulation on Decision-making Performance in Affective Serious Games
- 2019
-
Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Emotions are thought to be one of the key factors that critically influence human decision-making. Emotion-regulation can help to mitigate emotion-related decision biases and eventually lead to a better decision performance. Serious games emerged as a new angle introducing technological methods to practicing emotion-regulation, where meaningful biofeedback information communicates player's affective states to a series of informed gameplay choices. These findings motivate the notion that in the decision context of serious games, one would benefit from awareness and regulation of such emerging emotions.This thesis explores the design and evaluation methods for creating serious games where emotion-regulation can be practiced using physiological biofeedback measures. Furthermore, it investigates emotions and the effect of emotion-regulation on decision performance in serious games. Using the psychophysiological methods in the design of such games, emotions and their underlying neural mechanism have been explored.The results showed the benefits of practicing emotion-regulation in serious games, where decision-making performance was increased for the individuals who down-regulated high levels of arousal while having an experience of positive valence. Moreover, it increased also for the individuals who received the necessary biofeedback information. The results also suggested that emotion-regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal) are highly dependent on the serious game context. Therefore, the reappraisal strategy was shown to benefit the decision-making tasks investigated in this thesis. The results further suggested that using psychophysiological methods in emotionally arousing serious games, the interplay between sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways could be mapped through the underlying emotions which activate those two pathways. Following this conjecture, the results identified the optimal arousal level for increased performance of an individual on a decision-making task, by carefully balancing the activation of those two pathways. The investigations also validated these findings in the collaborative serious game context, where the robot collaborators were found to elicit diverse affect in their human partners, influencing performance on a decision-making task. Furthermore, the evidence suggested that arousal is equally or more important than valence for the decision-making performance, but once optimal arousal has been reached, a further increase in performance may be achieved by regulating valence. Furthermore, the results showed that serious games designed in this thesis elicited high physiological arousal and positive valence. This makes them suitable as research platforms for the investigation of how these emotions influence the activation of sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways and influence performance on a decision-making task.Taking these findings into consideration, the serious games designed in this thesis allowed for the training of cognitive reappraisal emotion-regulation strategy on the decision-making tasks. This thesis suggests that using evaluated design and development methods, it is possible to design and develop serious games that provide a helpful environment where individuals could practice emotion-regulation through raising awareness of emotions, and subsequently improve their decision-making performance.
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| 48. |
- Jernberg, Christian, 1985-, et al.
(author)
-
The effect of latency, speed and task on remote operation of vehicles
- 2024
-
In: Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. - : Elsevier. - 2590-1982. ; 26, s. 101152-101152
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Method: Thirty-one participants drove in simulated rural (high-speed) and urban (low-speed) scenarios. Five hazards were created for each scenario and the participants drove each scenario three times with different latencies (baseline, +100 ms, and +200 ms). The latency condition was masked for the participants. The hazards were designed with the intention of creating challenging traffic situations. For example, in hazard one (H1) a car parked next to the road activates their turn indicators and then cuts into the participant's lane close in front of the ego vehicle, forcing the participant to either brake or veer. Latency, type of hazard, and scenarios (high- and low-speed) were all within participants’ variables.Objective simulator data collected included variables such as reaction time, post-encroachment time, speed variation, distance to hazard, collisions, etc. Subjective data was gathered through questionnaires between each of the balanced latency conditions to assess trust, perceived control, realism of scenarios, and workload etc. After the completed drive, participants were asked to rate in which order they believed they had been subjected to the different latencies. The participants were divided into two groups, experienced drivers and experienced gamers.Conclusion: There seems to be a certain level of adaptivity among the participants, although they were not told that the latency varied between scenarios, and they could also not guess in which order they drove with the different conditions. In some situations, they drove with larger safety margins, especially experienced gamers in the high-speed scenario. Moreover, the subjective ratings show that participants felt less in control of the vehicle at higher latencies without being able to pinpoint what it was that affected their driving.
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| 49. |
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| 50. |
- Jirenhed, Dan-Anders, et al.
(author)
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Exploring Internal Simulation of Perception in Mobile Robots
- 2001
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In: Lund University Cognitive Studies. ; 86, s. 107-113
-
Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Based on a neuroscientific hypothesis, this paper explores the possibility of an ‘inner world’ based on internal simulation of perception. We present three sets of experiments with a possible minimal model, using a simulated Khepera robot controlled by a simple recurrent connectionist network. Using an evolutionary algorithm the robots are trained on increasingly complex tasks. In the first experiment, serving as a baseline, robots are simply trained to map sensory input to motor output such that they move around in an environment without collisions. In the second experiment robots are additionally trained on predicting the next time step’s sensory input. In the third experiment, finally, the robot’s own prediction replaces the actual sensory input in order to investigate its capability to act ‘blindly’, i.e. in the temporary absence of external stimuli. Although only the first two experiments give positive results, we conclude that the experimental framework presented here should turn out useful in the investigation of more complex artificial neural models.
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