EEG theta and Mu oscillations during perception of human and robot actions.

The perception of others' actions supports important skills such as communication, intention understanding, and empathy. Are mechanisms of action processing in the human brain specifically tuned to process biological agents? Humanoid robots can perform recognizable actions, but can look and move differently from humans, and as such, can be used in experiments to address such questions. Here, we recorded EEG as participants viewed actions performed by three agents. In the Human condition, the agent had biological appearance and motion. The other two conditions featured a state-of-the-art robot in two different appearances: Android, which had biological appearance but mechanical motion, and Robot, which had mechanical appearance and motion. We explored whether sensorimotor mu (8-13 Hz) and frontal theta (4-8 Hz) activity exhibited selectivity for biological entities, in particular for whether the visual appearance and/or the motion of the observed agent was biological. Sensorimotor mu suppression has been linked to the motor simulation aspect of action processing (and the human mirror neuron system, MNS), and frontal theta to semantic and memory-related aspects. For all three agents, action observation induced significant attenuation in the power of mu oscillations, with no difference between agents. Thus, mu suppression, considered an index of MNS activity, does not appear to be selective for biological agents. Observation of the Robot resulted in greater frontal theta activity compared to the Android and the Human, whereas the latter two did not differ from each other. Frontal theta thus appears to be sensitive to visual appearance, suggesting agents that are not sufficiently biological in appearance may result in greater memory processing demands for the observer. Studies combining robotics and neuroscience such as this one can allow us to explore neural basis of action processing on the one hand, and inform the design of social robots on the other

The perception of emotion in artificial agents

Given recent technological developments in robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, it is perhaps unsurprising that the arrival of emotionally expressive and reactive artificial agents is imminent. However, if such agents are to become integrated into our social milieu, it is imperative to establish an understanding of whether and how humans perceive emotion in artificial agents. In this review, we incorporate recent findings from social robotics, virtual reality, psychology, and neuroscience to examine how people recognize and respond to emotions displayed by artificial agents. First, we review how people perceive emotions expressed by an artificial agent, such as facial and bodily expressions and vocal tone. Second, we evaluate the similarities and differences in the consequences of perceived emotions in artificial compared to human agents. Besides accurately recognizing the emotional state of an artificial agent, it is critical to understand how humans respond to those emotions. Does interacting with an angry robot induce the same responses in people as interacting with an angry person? Similarly, does watching a robot rejoice when it wins a game elicit similar feelings of elation in the human observer? Here we provide an overview of the current state of emotion expression and perception in social robotics, as well as a clear articulation of the challenges and guiding principles to be addressed as we move ever closer to truly emotional artificial agents

Robotic theatre: comparative analysis of human and mechanized activities in the creative process

The article systematizes and analyzes the existing experience of organizing the creative process in a robotic theater. The author explores the robotic theater phenomenon, the artificial intelligence technology possibilities to function in the stage space. The article provides a comparative analysis of human and mechanized interaction in the stage space. The methodological basis of the research is a combination of several methods: analytical – for accounting for historical and fictional literature; theoretical and conceptual method – for analyzing the conceptual and terminological system of research and identifying the specifics of introducing the artificial intelligence technology in creative process; comparative-typological – to compare the peculiarities of the functioning of mechanized “actors” with the acting skills of human performers. The article explores the threat perception and uncanny valley concepts to study the perception of a robot–actor by an audience. The author examines the process of human interaction with a robotic body: from the moment of interest, interaction to the moment of rejection of the robot by a person (audience)

When Robots Enter Our Workplace: Understanding Employee Trust in Assistive Robots

This study is about assistive robots as internal service provider within the company Merck KGaA and examines how the physical appearance of a service representative (humanoid robot, android robot, human) affects employees’ trust. Based on the uncanny valley paradigm, we argue that employees’ trust is the lowest for the android robot and the highest for the human. Further, we will examine the effects of task complexity and requirements for self-disclosure on employees’ trust in assistive robots. According to script theory and media equation theory, we propose that high task complexity and high requirements for self-disclosure increase employees’ trust. We developed a research design to test our model by deploying a humanoid robot and an android robot within a company as robotic assistants in comparison to a human employee. In a next step, we will run a corresponding study with 300 employees

Daljinski nadzor i upravljanje industrijskim robotima temeljeni na upotrebi Android uređaja i Wi-Fi komunikacije

Robot control systems are usually complex systems whose users must be well trained to use them. Also, control process is mainly carried out near the robot or by using wired connections. There is a need for a solution that can provide convenient and intuitive robot control with user\u27s location independence, easy adjustment and simultaneously monitoring of robot motion tasks. Android devices are powerful mobile devices with open architecture and permanently Internet connection that can be applied to resolving those issues. This paper presents a system for remote monitoring and control of industrial robots based on Android device and Wi-Fi communication which provides intuitive robot control at a great distance with simultaneously monitoring of robot motions by observing its 3D model movement or trajectory path. Simple definition of new motion tasks and their redefinition is provided through the so called \u27speed dial\u27 mode and manual robot guiding is provided through the manual control mode. Proposed solution simplifies an interaction between the human and the industrial robot in the case of robot motion control and tracking at remote location.Sustavi upravljanja robotima su obično složeni sustavi čiji korisnici moraju biti dobro obučeni da ih koriste. Također, upravljanje procesima se uglavnom provodi u neposrednoj blizini robota ili pomoću žičane veze. Postoji potreba za rješenjem koje može osigurati udobno i intuitivno upravljanje robotima neovisno o mjestu korisnika, koje se lako koristi i istovremeno omogućuje praćenje kretanja robota. Android uređaji su moćni mobilni uređaji sa otvorenom arhitekturom i stalnom internetskom vezom koji se mogu primijeniti na rješavanje tih pitanja. U ovom radu je predstavljen sustav za daljinski nadzor i upravljanje industrijskim robotima temeljen na upotrebi Android uređaja i Wi-Fi komunikacije koji omogućuje intuitivno upravljanje robotima na velikoj udaljenosti uz istovremeno praćenje njihovih kretanja putem 3D modela ili putanje trajektorije. Jednostavno definiranje novih zadataka i njihovo redefiniranje je omogućeno kroz tzv. mod "brzog biranja", dok je ručno vođenje robota omogućeno kroz ručni mod. Predloženo rješenje pojednostavljuje interakciju između čovjeka i industrijskih robota tijekom upravljanja i praćenja kretanja industrijskih robota na udaljenom korisničkom mjestu

Comparing human robot interaction scenarios using live and video based methods: towards a novel methodological approach

This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.---- Copyright IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE. DOI : 10.1109/AMC.2006.1631754This paper presents results of a pilot study that investigated whether people’s perceptions from live and video HRI trials were comparable. Subjects participated in a live HRI trial and videotaped HRI trials in which the scenario for both trials was identical, and involved a robot fetching an object using different approach directions. Results of the trials indicated moderate to high levels of agreement for subjects’ preferences, and opinions for both the live and video based HRI trials. This methodology is in its infancy and should not be seen as a replacement for live trials. However, our results indicate that for certain HRI scenarios videotaped trials do have potential as a technique for prototyping, testing, developing HRI scenarios, and testing methodologies for use in definitive live trials