Robots guiding small groups: the effect of appearance change on the user experience

In this paper we present an exploratory user study in which a robot guided small groups of two to three people. We manipulated the appearance of the robot in terms of the position of a tablet providing information (facing the group that was guided or the walking direction) and the type of information displayed (eyes or route information). Our results indicate that users preferred eyes on a display that faced the walking direction and route information on a display that faced them. The study gave us strong indication to believe that people are not in favor of eyes looking at them during the guiding

Robo-ethics design approach for cultural heritage: Case study - Robotics for museum purpose

The thesis shows the study behind the design process and the realization of the robotic solution for museum purposes called Virgil. The research started with the literature review on museums management and the critic analysis of signi cant digital experiences in the museum eld. Then, it continues analyzing the museum and its relation with the territory and the cultural heritage. From this preliminary analysis stage, signi cant issue related to museum management analysis comes out: nowadays many museum areas are not accessible to visitors because of issues related to security or architectural barriers. Make explorable these areas is one of the important topics in the cultural debate related to the visiting experience. This rst stage gave the knowledge to develop the outlines which brought to the realization of an ef cient service design then realized following robot ethical design values. One of the pillars of the robot ethical design is the necessity to involve all the stakeholders in the early project phases, for this reason, the second stage of the research was the study of the empathic relations between museum and visitors. In this phase, facilitator factors of this relation are de ned and transformed into guidelines for the product system performances. To perform this stage, it has been necessary create a relation between all the stakeholders of the project, which are: Politecnico di Torino, Tim (Telecom Italia Mobile) JOL CRAB research laboratory and Terre dei Savoia which is the association in charge of the Racconiggi’s Castle, the context scenario of the research. The third stage of the research, provided the realization of a prototype of the robot, in this stage telepresence robot piloted the Museum Guide it is used to show, in real time, the inaccessible areas of the museum enriched with multimedia contents. This stage concludes with the nal test user, from the test session feedback analysis, many of people want to drive themselves the robot. To give an answer to user feedback an interactive game has been developed. The game is based both on the robot ability to be driven by the visitors and also on the capacity of the robot to be used as a platform for the digital telling. To be effective, the whole experience it has been designed and tested with the support of high school students, which are one of the categories less interested in the traditional museum visit. This experience wants to demonstrate that the conscious and ethical use of the robotic device is effectively competitive, in term of performances, with the other solutions of digital visit: because it allows a more interactive digital experience in addition to the satisfaction of the physical visit at the museum

The digital skills divide: evidence from the European tourism industry

Purpose: This paper aims to present the findings from a European study on the digital skills gaps in tourism and hospitality companies. Design/methodology/approach: Mixed methods research was adopted. The sample includes 1,668 respondents (1,404 survey respondents and 264 interviewees) in 5 tourism sectors (accommodation establishments, tour operators and travel agents, food and beverage, visitor attractions and destination management organisations) in 8 European countries (UK, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands and Bulgaria). Findings: The most important future digital skills include online marketing and communication skills, social media skills, MS Office skills, operating systems use skills and skills to monitor online reviews. The largest gaps between the current and the future skill levels were identified for artificial intelligence and robotics skills and augmented reality and virtual reality skills, but these skills, together with computer programming skills, were considered also as the least important digital skills. Three clusters were identified on the basis of their reported gaps between the current level and the future needs of digital skills. The country of registration, sector and size shape respondents’ answers regarding the current and future skills levels and the skills gap between them. Originality/value: The paper discusses the digital skills gap of tourism and hospitality employees and identifies the most important digital skills they would need in the future

Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a natural development from virtual reality (VR), which was developed several decades earlier. AR complements VR in many ways. Due to the advantages of the user being able to see both the real and virtual objects simultaneously, AR is far more intuitive, but it's not completely detached from human factors and other restrictions. AR doesn't consume as much time and effort in the applications because it's not required to construct the entire virtual scene and the environment. In this book, several new and emerging application areas of AR are presented and divided into three sections. The first section contains applications in outdoor and mobile AR, such as construction, restoration, security and surveillance. The second section deals with AR in medical, biological, and human bodies. The third and final section contains a number of new and useful applications in daily living and learning

Toward a more accessible cultural heritage. Experiences, methodologies and tools.

L'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen

Para além do controle: estratégias para a agência do design no Antropoceno

This thesis provides a moral appeal. It sets out to inspire makers, doers and thinkers to strategically act, beyond control, in knocking at the door of socio-ecological crisis in Anthropocene. What is the role of design in the Anthropocene? What kind of ethical principles can be considered? And what does this imply for ‘response-able’ practices? These questions bind together the non-linear assemblage that this thesis is. Action, reflection, problem and solution are interdependent and unfold together, like the petals of a blooming rose. Complexity may be absorbed with honesty rather than with confidence. The voice in this thesis is an ‘I’, and ‘I’ am an ecological constructivist. The grounds for ecological constructivism are inter-personal or rather inter-actor relationships. Places, objects, processes and organisms are seen as entangled entities and are approached with a ‘tentacular’ sensitivity: the humanities’ object of study is no longer ‘man.’ Research and researcher, life and the living, site and situation are inevitably interwoven. Every ‘thing’ and every ‘action’ are data. The data is collected through a personal, subjective lens combining design practice with theory. It is assumed that when carried out trough time, with honesty and integrity, research (about, through and for design) can bring us closer to morphs of truth. With a creative hunch, I collect clues as a hunter-gather. By coding, categorizing and interpreting like a detective, with frames such as ‘entanglement’, ‘submergence’ and ‘contamination’ the research employs the method of abduction to develop constructs and theories. These are then used to build the argument for seven moral pleas meant as persuasions: normative aspirations for design agency in the Anthropocene. Design actions may focus on themes such as: unfolding together; responding beyond control; loving our monsters; an obligation to disobedience; form follows potential and being into Anthropocene fiction. The journey then concludes with a re-enchantment of decency towards all that matters, an animistic approach with pragmatic logic that sees the wellbeing of humans, animals and environments as deeply connected. Human interventions would preferably set out to enable autonomous ‘sympoeitic’ stewardship of the planet by including intentions for the unintentional. The implications of this research are related to context and method. A recursive use of a myriad of methodologies, playing their role at different moments of the research, may have given completely different results in another context, which may not appeal to all researchers. Eventually the exploratory, rather than explanatory nature of this research, revealed one thing: the main aim is not to achieve results, but to create a stage on which many perspectives can unfold: the result is that results are not all that counts. Attitude, rather than telos, lies at the heart of design agency beyond control.Esta tese oferece um apelo moral. Tem como objetivo inspirar os criadores, realizadores e pensadores a agirem estrategicamente, além do controle, batendo à porta da crise socioecológica no Antropoceno. Qual é o papel do design no Antropoceno? Que tipo de princípios éticos podem ser considerados? E o que isso significa para práticas "capazes de responder"? Essas questões a não linearidade metodológica desta tese. Ação, reflexão, problema e solução são interdependentes e desdobram-se juntos, como as pétalas de uma rosa desabrochando. A complexidade pode ser absorvida com honestidade e não com confiança. A voz nesta tese é um 'eu' e 'eu' sou um construtivista ecológico. As bases para o construtivismo ecológico são as relações interpessoais, ou melhor, entre os atores. Lugares, objetos, processos e organismos são vistos como entidades entrosadas e são abordadas com uma sensibilidade 'tentacular': o objeto de estudo das humanidades não é mais 'homem'. Pesquisa e pesquisador, vida e vivência, local e situação estão inevitavelmente entrelaçados. Cada "coisa" e cada "ação" são dados. Os dados são coletados por meio de lentes subjetivas e pessoais, combinando a prática do design com a teoria. Presume-se que, quando realizada ao longo do tempo, com honestidade e integridade, a investigação (sobre, por meio de, e, para design) pode aproximar-nos de formas de verdade. Com um palpite criativo, coleto pistas como um caçador-coletor. Ao codificar, categorizar e interpretar como um detetive, com quadros como "entrosamento", "submersão" e "contaminação", a pesquisa emprega o método de abdução para desenvolver construções e teorias. Estas são então usadas para construir o argumento para os sete fundamentos morais significados como persuasões: aspirações normativas para agência de design no Antropoceno. As ações de design podem concentrar-se em temas como: desdobramento conjunto; respondendo além do controle; amar nossos monstros; uma obrigação de desobediência; a forma segue o potencial e o ser (existência) na ficção do Antropoceno. A viagem então termina com um reencantamento da decência em relação a tudo o que importa, uma abordagem animista com uma lógica pragmática que vê o bem-estar de humanos, animais e ambientes profundamente conectados. Intervenções humanas seriam preferencialmente estabelecidas para permitir a administração "simpoeítica" autónoma do planeta, incluindo as intenções para o não ntencional. As implicações desta investigação estão relacionadas com o contexto e com o método. O uso recursivo de uma miríade de metodologias, desempenhando o seu papel em diferentes momentos da investigação, poderá dar resultados diferentes em outros contextos, o que poderá não ser consensual na comunidade científica. Por fim, o caráter exploratório, ao invés de explicativo, desta investigação revelou que o objetivo principal não é alcançar resultados, mas criar um palco no qual muitas perspetivas possam desdobrar-se: o resultado é que os resultados não são tudo o que conta em investigação mas a jornada é em si também um aspeto importante. Atitude, ao invés de perseguir um fim (telos), está na essência de design agency consciente da impossibilidade de controle.Programa Doutoral em Desig

Ono: an open platform for social robotics

In recent times, the focal point of research in robotics has shifted from industrial ro- bots toward robots that interact with humans in an intuitive and safe manner. This evolution has resulted in the subfield of social robotics, which pertains to robots that function in a human environment and that can communicate with humans in an int- uitive way, e.g. with facial expressions. Social robots have the potential to impact many different aspects of our lives, but one particularly promising application is the use of robots in therapy, such as the treatment of children with autism. Unfortunately, many of the existing social robots are neither suited for practical use in therapy nor for large scale studies, mainly because they are expensive, one-of-a-kind robots that are hard to modify to suit a specific need. We created Ono, a social robotics platform, to tackle these issues. Ono is composed entirely from off-the-shelf components and cheap materials, and can be built at a local FabLab at the fraction of the cost of other robots. Ono is also entirely open source and the modular design further encourages modification and reuse of parts of the platform