Designing Engaging Learning Experiences in Programming

In this paper we describe work to investigate the creation of engaging programming learning experiences. Background research informed the design of four fieldwork studies to explore how programming tasks could be framed to motivate learners. Our empirical findings from these four field studies are summarized here, with a particular focus upon one – Whack a Mole – which compared the use of a physical interface with the use of a screen-based equivalent interface to obtain insights into what made for an engaging learning experience. Emotions reported by two sets of participant undergraduate students were analyzed, identifying the links between the emotions experienced during programming and their origin. Evidence was collected of the very positive emotions experienced by learners programming with a physical interface (Arduino) in comparison with a similar program developed using a screen-based equivalent interface. A follow-up study provided further evidence of the motivation of personalized design of programming tangible physical artefacts. Collating all the evidence led to the design of a set of ‘Learning Dimensions’ which may provide educators with insights to support key design decisions for the creation of engaging programming learning experiences

Transfer Scenarios: Grounding Innovation with Marginal Practices

Transfer scenarios is a method developed to support the design of innovative interactive technology. Such a method should help the designer to come up with inventive ideas, and at the same time provide grounding in real human needs. In transfer scenarios, we use marginal practices to encourage a changed mindset throughout the design process. A marginal practice consists of individuals who share an activity that they find meaningful. We regard these individuals not as end-users, but as valuable input in the design process. We applied this method when designing novel applications for autonomous embodied agents, e.g. robots. Owners of unusual pets, such as snakes and spiders, were interviewed - not with the intention to design robot pets, but to determine underlying needs and interests of their practice. The results were then used to design a set of applications for more general users, including a dynamic living-room wall and a set of communicating hobby robots

Living Capsules: reflections on an ongoing art-sociology collaboration

Living Capsules is the umbrella name we give to our art pieces that are being born out of an ongoing collaboration, between an artist and a sociologist, who share interests in the relations between senses, bodies, and technologies. This reflective paper tells the story of their co-creation. We introduce the notion of biohybrid systems as our sociotechnical inspiration. Second, we mark out the conceptual space in which we began to prototype Living Capsules. Third, we reflect on how and why we blend our disciplinary practices. And finally, we share and discuss some prototype pieces, sketching future directions for our continued collaboration

Developing Social Robots with Empathetic Non-Verbal Cues Using Large Language Models

We propose augmenting the empathetic capacities of social robots by integrating non-verbal cues. Our primary contribution is the design and labeling of four types of empathetic non-verbal cues, abbreviated as SAFE: Speech, Action (gesture), Facial expression, and Emotion, in a social robot. These cues are generated using a Large Language Model (LLM). We developed an LLM-based conversational system for the robot and assessed its alignment with social cues as defined by human counselors. Preliminary results show distinct patterns in the robot's responses, such as a preference for calm and positive social emotions like 'joy' and 'lively', and frequent nodding gestures. Despite these tendencies, our approach has led to the development of a social robot capable of context-aware and more authentic interactions. Our work lays the groundwork for future studies on human-robot interactions, emphasizing the essential role of both verbal and non-verbal cues in creating social and empathetic robots

Do you want to make your robot warmer? Make it more reactive!

Endowing robots with the ability to respond appropriately to stimuli contributes to the perception of an illusion of "life" in robots, which is determinant for their acceptance as companions. This work aims to study how a series of bio-inspired reactive responses impact on the way in which participants perceive a social robot. In particular, the proposed system endows the robot with the ability to react to stimuli that are not only related to the current task but are also related to other external events. We conducted an experiment where the participants observed a video-recorded interaction with two robots: one was able to respond to both task-related and non-task-related events, while the other was only able to react to task-related events. To evaluate the experiment, we used the RoSAS questionnaire. The results yielded significant differences for two factors, showing that the addition of responses to non-task-related stimuli increased the robot¿s warmth and competence.This work was supported in part by the Robots Sociales para Estimulación Física, Cognitiva y Afectiva de Mayores (RoSEs) funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Spanish Government under Grant RTI2018-096338-B-I00; in part by the Robots sociales para mitigar la soledad y el aislamiento en mayores (SoRoLI) funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spanish Government under Grant PID2021-123941OA-I00; and in part by the Multiannual Agreement with UC3M (“Fostering Young Doctors Research”) in the context of the V PRICIT (Research and Technological Innovation Regional Programme) by the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid-Spain) under Grant SMM4HRI-CM-UC3M

Explain yourself! Effects of Explanations in Human-Robot Interaction

Recent developments in explainable artificial intelligence promise the potential to transform human-robot interaction: Explanations of robot decisions could affect user perceptions, justify their reliability, and increase trust. However, the effects on human perceptions of robots that explain their decisions have not been studied thoroughly. To analyze the effect of explainable robots, we conduct a study in which two simulated robots play a competitive board game. While one robot explains its moves, the other robot only announces them. Providing explanations for its actions was not sufficient to change the perceived competence, intelligence, likeability or safety ratings of the robot. However, the results show that the robot that explains its moves is perceived as more lively and human-like. This study demonstrates the need for and potential of explainable human-robot interaction and the wider assessment of its effects as a novel research direction

Robotic Reflection: An Exploration of Humanity Through the Bodies of Sex Robots

Sexuality and technology have long been recognized as markers of the human experience. The burgeoning industry of sex robots exists at the junction of these features, making sex robot technology both a highly intriguing and highly relevant subject of research. This study explores sex robots from a technical and a theoretical perspective, analyzing the potential impact of the technology on sexual relationships in the future. Data analysis proved an emphasis on embodiment in intimate relationships, which, combined with theories of sexuality, self formation, fear, and desire, proves the potential of sex robots to function not only as the future of sex but as reflections of what makes us human, too

生命維持にかかわる生理現象を介した人間 : ロボットのコミュニケーションと身体情動モデルの設計

関西大学In this dissertation, we focus on physiological phenomena of robots as the expressive modality of their inner states and discuss the effectiveness of a robot expressing physiological phenomena, which are indispensable for living. We designed a body-emotion model showing the relationship between a) emotion as the inner state of the robot and b) physiological phenomena as physical changes, and we discuss the communication between humans and robots through involuntary physiological expression based on the model. In recent years, various robots for use in mental health care and communication support in medical/nursing care have been developed. The purpose of these systems is to enable communication between a robot and patients by an active approach of the robot through sound and body movement. In contrast to conventional approaches, our research is based on involuntary emotional expression through physiological phenomena of the robot. Physiological phenomena including breathing, heartbeat, and body temperature are essential functions for life activities, and these are closely related to the inner state of humans because physiological phenomena are caused by the emotional reaction of the limbic system transmitted via the autonomic nervous system. In human-robot communication through physical contact, we consider that physiological phenomena are one of the most important nonverbal modalities of the inner state as involuntary expressions. First, we focused on the robots\u27 expression of physiological phenomena, proposed the body-emotion model (BEM), which concerns the relationship between the inner state of robots and their involuntary physical reactions. We proposed a stuffed-toy robot system: BREAR―which has a mechanical structure to express the breathing, heartbeat, temperature and bodily movement. The result of experiment showed that a heartbeat, breathing and body temperature can express the robot\u27s living state and that the breathing speed is highly related to the robot\u27s emotion of arousal. We reviewed the experimental results and emotional generation mechanisms and discussed the design of the robot based on BEM. Based on our verification results, we determined that the design of the BEM-which involves the perception of the external situation, the matching with the memory, the change of the autonomic nervous parameter and the representation of the physiological phenomena - that is based on the relationship between the autonomic nervous system and emotional arousal is effective. Second, we discussed indirect communication between humans and robots through physiological phenomena - which consist of the breathing, heartbeats and body temperature - that express robots\u27 emotions. We set a situation with joint attention from the robot and user on emotional content and evaluated whether both the user\u27s emotional response to the content and the user\u27s impression of relationship between the user and the robot were changed by the physiological expressions of the robot. The results suggest that the physiological expression of the robot makes the user\u27s own emotions in the experience more excited or suppressed and that the robot\u27s expression increases impressions of closeness and sensitivity. Last, we discussed the future perspective of human-robot communication by physiological phenomena. Regarding the representation of the robots\u27 sense of life, it is thought that the user\u27s recognition that the robot is alive improves not only the moral effect on the understanding of the finiteness of life but also the attachment to the robot in long-term communication. Regarding the emotional expression mechanism based on life, it is expected that the robot can display a complicated internal state close to that of humans by combining intentionally expressed emotions and involuntary emotional expressions. If a robot can express a combination of realistic voluntary expressions, such as facial expressions and body movements, in combination with real involuntary expressions by using the real intentions and lying, it can be said that the robot has a more complicated internal state than that of a pet. By using a robot expressing a living state through physiological phenomena, it can be expected that the effect of mental care will exceed that of animal therapy, and we expect to provide care and welfare support in place of human beings