Model-Driven Interaction Design for Social Robots

Robotic software development frameworks lack a possibility to present,validate and generate qualitative complex human robot interactions and robot de-velopers are mostly left with unclear informal project specifications. The devel-opment of a human-robot interaction is a complex task and involves different ex-perts, for example, the need for human-robot interaction (HRI) specialists, whoknow about the psychological impact of the robot’s movements during the in-teraction in order to design the best possible user experience. In this paper, wepresent a new project that aims to provide exactly this. Focusing on the interac-tion flow and movements of a robot for human-robot interactions we aim to pro-vide a set of modelling languages for human-robot interaction which serves as acommon, more formal, discussion point between the different stakeholders. Thisis a new project and the main topics of this publication are the scenario descrip-tion, the analysis of the different stakeholders, our experience as robot applicationdevelopers for our partner, as well as the future work we plan to achieve

Applying the “human-dog interaction” metaphor in human-robot interaction: a co-design practice engaging healthy retired adults in China

This research adopts a Deweyan pragmatist approach and “research through design” methods to explore the use of human-dog interaction as a model for developing human-robot interaction. This research asks two questions: (1) In what way could the human-dog interaction model inform the design of social robots to meet the needs of older adults? (2) What role could aesthetic, functional and behavioural aspects of the human-dog interaction play in older adults’ interaction with social robots? Driven by the pragmatist approach, this thesis uses the dog-human interaction model as a metaphor in this thesis. The research carried out four studies in two parts. The first part of the practice includes two explorative studies to identify aspects of human-dog interaction that could inform the design of social robots for older adults. Study 1 explores aspects of human-dog interaction that could inform the design of human-robot interaction for retired adults. Study 2 explores a group of healthy retired adults’ attitudes and preferences toward social/assistive robots in China. The findings suggest that, first, the pairing and training process provides a framework for building personalised social robots in terms of form, function, interaction, and stakeholders involved. Second, the cooperative interaction between a human and a guide dog provides insights for building social robots that take on leading roles in interactions. The robot-as-dog metaphor offers a new perspective to rethink the design process of social robots based on the role dog trainer, owner, and the dog plays in human-dog interaction. In the second part of the practice, two more studies are conducted to articulate the usefulness of the designer-as-trainer-metaphor, and the personalisation-astraining-metaphor, using participatory co-designing methods. Engaging both retired adult participants and roboticists as co-designers to investigate further how aesthetic aspects, functional features, and interactive behaviours characterising dog-human interaction could inform how older adults can interact with social robots. Study 3 involved co-designing a robot probe with roboticists and later deploying it in a participant’s home using the Wizard of Oz method. The personalisation-as-training metaphor helps facilitate a critical discussion for the interdisciplinary co-design process. It broadens the design space when addressing the technical limitation of the probe’s camera through reflection-in-action. Study 4 engages the retired adults as co-designers to envision what characteristics they would like robots to have, with attention to the robot’s form, the functions that the robot can perform and how the robot interacts with users. The study applies techniques such as sketching and storyboarding to understand how retired adults make sense of these core elements that are key to developing social/assistive robots for positive ageing. This thesis makes two main contributions to knowledge in human-robot interaction and interaction design research. Firstly, it provides an applied example using the robot-as-dog metaphor as a tool to probe human-robot interactions in a domestic context. Secondly, to show dog-human interaction model is applicable to different levels of abstraction for the co-designing process that involves the roboticists and the end-users. The outcome shows a reflective practice that engages metaphors to facilitate communication across disciplines in the co-design process

On the Integration of Adaptive and Interactive Robotic Smart Spaces

© 2015 Mauro Dragone et al.. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License. (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)Enabling robots to seamlessly operate as part of smart spaces is an important and extended challenge for robotics R&D and a key enabler for a range of advanced robotic applications, such as AmbientAssisted Living (AAL) and home automation. The integration of these technologies is currently being pursued from two largely distinct view-points: On the one hand, people-centred initiatives focus on improving the user’s acceptance by tackling human-robot interaction (HRI) issues, often adopting a social robotic approach, and by giving to the designer and - in a limited degree – to the final user(s), control on personalization and product customisation features. On the other hand, technologically-driven initiatives are building impersonal but intelligent systems that are able to pro-actively and autonomously adapt their operations to fit changing requirements and evolving users’ needs,but which largely ignore and do not leverage human-robot interaction and may thus lead to poor user experience and user acceptance. In order to inform the development of a new generation of smart robotic spaces, this paper analyses and compares different research strands with a view to proposing possible integrated solutions with both advanced HRI and online adaptation capabilities.Peer reviewe

RoboChain: A Secure Data-Sharing Framework for Human-Robot Interaction

Robots have potential to revolutionize the way we interact with the world around us. One of their largest potentials is in the domain of mobile health where they can be used to facilitate clinical interventions. However, to accomplish this, robots need to have access to our private data in order to learn from these data and improve their interaction capabilities. Furthermore, to enhance this learning process, the knowledge sharing among multiple robot units is the natural step forward. However, to date, there is no well-established framework which allows for such data sharing while preserving the privacy of the users (e.g., the hospital patients). To this end, we introduce RoboChain - the first learning framework for secure, decentralized and computationally efficient data and model sharing among multiple robot units installed at multiple sites (e.g., hospitals). RoboChain builds upon and combines the latest advances in open data access and blockchain technologies, as well as machine learning. We illustrate this framework using the example of a clinical intervention conducted in a private network of hospitals. Specifically, we lay down the system architecture that allows multiple robot units, conducting the interventions at different hospitals, to perform efficient learning without compromising the data privacy.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Overcoming barriers and increasing independence: service robots for elderly and disabled people

This paper discusses the potential for service robots to overcome barriers and increase independence of elderly and disabled people. It includes a brief overview of the existing uses of service robots by disabled and elderly people and advances in technology which will make new uses possible and provides suggestions for some of these new applications. The paper also considers the design and other conditions to be met for user acceptance. It also discusses the complementarity of assistive service robots and personal assistance and considers the types of applications and users for which service robots are and are not suitable