Implications of robot actions for human perception: how do we represent actions of the observed robots?

Social robotics aims at developing robots that are to assist humans in their daily lives. To achieve this aim, robots must act in a comprehensible and intuitive manner for humans. That is, humans should be able to cognitively represent robot actions easily, in terms of action goals and means to achieve them. This yields a question of how actions are represented in general. Based on ideomotor theories (Greenwald Psychol Rev 77:73–99, 1970) and accounts postulating common code between action and perception (Hommel et al. Behav Brain Sci 24:849–878, 2001) as well as empirical evidence (Wykowska et al. J Exp Psychol 35:1755–1769, 2009), we argue that action and perception domains are tightly linked in the human brain. The aim of the present study was to examine if robot actions would be represented similarly, and in consequence, elicit similar perceptual effects, as representing human actions. Our results showed that indeed robot actions elicited perceptual effects of the same kind as human actions, arguing in favor of that humans are capable of representing robot actions in a similar manner as human actions. Future research will aim at examining how much these representations depend on physical properties of the robot actor and its behavior

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto:Emergence of Automated Social Presence in Organizational Frontlines and Customers’ Service Experiences

Technology is rapidly changing the nature of service, customers’ service frontline experiences, and customers’ relationships with service providers. Based on the prediction that in the marketplace of 2025, technology (e.g., service-providing humanoid robots) will be melded into numerous service experiences, this article spotlights technology’s ability to engage customers on a social level as a critical advancement of technology infusions. Specifically, it introduces the novel concept of automated social presence (ASP; i.e., the extent to which technology makes customers feel the presence of another social entity) to the services literature. The authors develop a typology that highlights different combinations of automated and human social presence in organizational frontlines and indicates literature gaps, thereby emphasizing avenues for future research. Moreover, the article presents a conceptual framework that focuses on (a) how the relationship between ASP and several key service and customer outcomes is mediated by social cognition and perceptions of psychological ownership as well as (b) three customer-related factors that moderate the relationship between ASP and social cognition and psychological ownership (i.e., a customer’s relationship orientation, tendency to anthropomorphize, and technology readiness). Finally, propositions are presented that can be a catalyst for future work to enhance the understanding of how technology infusion, particularly service robots, influences customers’ frontline experiences in the future

Humanoid-based protocols to study social cognition

Social cognition is broadly defined as the way humans understand and process their interactions with other humans. In recent years, humans have become more and more used to interact with non-human agents, such as technological artifacts. Although these interactions have been restricted to human-controlled artifacts, they will soon include interactions with embodied and autonomous mechanical agents, i.e., robots. This challenge has motivated an area of research related to the investigation of human reactions towards robots, widely referred to as Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). Classical HRI protocols often rely on explicit measures, e.g., subjective reports. Therefore, they cannot address the quantification of the crucial implicit social cognitive processes that are evoked during an interaction. This thesis aims to develop a link between cognitive neuroscience and human-robot interaction (HRI) to study social cognition. This approach overcomes methodological constraints of both fields, allowing to trigger and capture the mechanisms of real-life social interactions while ensuring high experimental control. The present PhD work demonstrates this through the systematic study of the effect of online eye contact on gaze-mediated orienting of attention. The study presented in Publication I aims to adapt the gaze-cueing paradigm from cognitive science to an objective neuroscientific HRI protocol. Furthermore, it investigates whether the gaze-mediated orienting of attention is sensitive to the establishment of eye contact. The study replicates classic screen-based findings of attentional orienting mediated by gaze both at behavioral and neural levels, highlighting the feasibility and the scientific value of adding neuroscientific methods to HRI protocols. The aim of the study presented in Publication II is to examine whether and how real-time eye contact affects the dual-component model of joint attention orienting. To this end, cue validity and stimulus-to-onset asynchrony are also manipulated. The results show an interactive effect of strategic (cue validity) and social (eye contact) top-down components on the botton-up reflexive component of gaze-mediated orienting of attention. The study presented in Publication III aims to examine the subjective engagement and attribution of human likeness towards the robot depending on established eye contact or not during a joint attention task. Subjective reports show that eye contact increases human likeness attribution and feelings of engagement with the robot compared to a no-eye contact condition. The aim of the study presented in Publication IV is to investigate whether eye contact established by a humanoid robot affects objective measures of engagement (i.e. joint attention and fixation durations), and subjective feelings of engagement with the robot during a joint attention task. Results show that eye contact modulates attentional engagement, with longer fixations at the robot’s face and cueing effect when the robot establishes eye contact. In contrast, subjective reports show that the feeling of being engaged with the robot in an HRI protocol is not modulated by real-time eye contact. This study further supports the necessity for adding objective methods to HRI. Overall, this PhD work shows that embodied artificial agents can advance the theoretical knowledge of social cognitive mechanisms by serving as sophisticated interactive stimuli of high ecological validity and excellent experimental control. Moreover, humanoid-based protocols grounded in cognitive science can advance the HRI community by informing about the exact cognitive mechanisms that are present during HRI

Robot e cobot nell’impresa e nella scuola

The book deals with the transversal theme of hymn-technological development through robots and cobots, the introduction of which crosses now business, scholastic and educational contexts. Starting from an introduction aimed at questioning what is meant from for innovation and what could be the minimum conditions for it we can actually speak of innovative contexts, the volume takes the distances from techno-enthusiastic or techno-critical approaches assumed a priori and suggested manages a departure from a win win perspective at any cost which does not properly reflect on some crucial issues in supporting the innovative processes, including the training of workers (in primis), the legal perspectives, as well as the needs in the terms of new tools to ensure the management of health and safety at work. The volume continues by addressing the potential of collaborative robots in helping people to carry out more or less complex tasks, ibid including learning; therefore, some uses of robotics are presented in educational contexts of school or higher education where robotics could be used as a tool to support people with autism, contrast bullying phenomena, help develop skills transversal and space-time trends, also through the use of the so-called swarm robotics. Despite the difference of languages and specific perspectives that distinguish the different chapters, the volume is oriented to a reader curious and aware that business, school and university can play the their game in synergy, learning to listen to each other and to reflect more frequently-mind about the challenges that unite them

Robot e cobot nell’impresa e nella scuola

The book deals with the transversal theme of hymn-technological development through robots and cobots, the introduction of which crosses now business, scholastic and educational contexts. Starting from an introduction aimed at questioning what is meant from for innovation and what could be the minimum conditions for it we can actually speak of innovative contexts, the volume takes the distances from techno-enthusiastic or techno-critical approaches assumed a priori and suggested manages a departure from a win win perspective at any cost which does not properly reflect on some crucial issues in supporting the innovative processes, including the training of workers (in primis), the legal perspectives, as well as the needs in the terms of new tools to ensure the management of health and safety at work. The volume continues by addressing the potential of collaborative robots in helping people to carry out more or less complex tasks, ibid including learning; therefore, some uses of robotics are presented in educational contexts of school or higher education where robotics could be used as a tool to support people with autism, contrast bullying phenomena, help develop skills transversal and space-time trends, also through the use of the so-called swarm robotics. Despite the difference of languages and specific perspectives that distinguish the different chapters, the volume is oriented to a reader curious and aware that business, school and university can play the their game in synergy, learning to listen to each other and to reflect more frequently-mind about the challenges that unite them