Measuring perceived adaptiveness in a robotic eldercare companion

Based on observations in previous experiments with a robotic companion in eldercare and on findings in related literature, we developed the concept of Perceived Adaptiveness. We integrated this in our technology acceptance methodology for robotic eldercare companions and found in a small experiment that adaptiveness of the system as perceived by elderly users is indeed a relevant item, being a direct influence on Perceived Usefulness

Multiphoton Coincidence Spectroscopy

We extend the analysis of photon coincidence spectroscopy beyond bichromatic excitation and two-photon coincidence detection to include multichromatic excitation and multiphoton coincidence detection. Trichromatic excitation and three-photon coincidence spectroscopy are studied in detail, and we identify an observable signature of a triple resonance in an atom-cavity system.Comment: 6 page, REVTeXs, 6 Postscript figures. The abstract appeared in the Proceedings of ACOLS9

Effect of dissipation and measurement on a tunneling system

We consider a parametrically driven Kerr medium in which the pumping may be sinusoidally varied. It has been previously found that this system exhibits coherent tunneling between two fixed points which can be either enhanced or suppressed by altering the driving frequency and strength. We numerically investigate the dynamics when damping is included. This is done both by solving a master equation and using the quantum-trajectory method. In the latter case it is also possible to model the result of a continuous heterodyne measurement of the cavity output. The dissipation destroys the coherences which give rise to the tunneling, causing the sinusoidal oscillation of the mean to give way to a stochastic jumping between the fixed points, manifested as a random telegraph signal. In the quantum-trajectory picture we show that the coherences responsible for tunneling are an exponentially decreasing function of the signal-to-noise ratio for heterodyne measurements. However, evidence of both the bare tunneling rate and the driving modified tunneling rate are still apparent in the random telegraph signal

‘Give me a hug': the effects of touch and autonomy on people's responses to embodied social agents

Embodied social agents are programmed to display human-like social behaviour to increase intuitiveness of interacting with these agents. It is not yet clear to what extent people respond to agents’ social behaviours. One example is touch. Despite robots’ embodiment and increasing autonomy, the effect of communicative touch has been a mostly overlooked aspect of human-robot interaction. This video-based, 2x2 betweensubject survey experiment (N=119) found that the combination of touch and proactivity influenced whether people saw the robot as machine-like and dependable. Participants’ attitude towards robots in general also influenced perceived closeness between humans and robots. Results show that communicative touch is considered a more appropriate behaviour for proactive agents rather than reactive agents. Also, people that are generally more positive towards robots find robots that interact by touch less machine-like. These effects illustrate that careful consideration is necessary when incorporating social behaviours in agents’ physical interaction design

Entanglement of coherent states and decoherence

A possibility to produce entangled superpositions of strong coherent states is discussed. A recent proposal by Howell and Yazell [Phys. Rev. A 62, 012102 (2000)] of a device which entangles two strong coherent coherent states is critically examined. A serious flaw in their design is found. New modified scheme is proposed and it is shown that it really can generate non-classical states that can violate Bell inequality. Moreover, a profound analysis of the effect of losses and decoherence on the degree of entanglement is accomplished. It reveals the high sensitivity of the device to any disturbances and the fragility of generated states