International Journal of Social Robotics最新文献

This research examines how to design social robots to support self-regulated learning skills for piano practice. More specifically, a social robot is used to provide feedback to children and initiate self-assessment. To assess the impact of this approach on children’s motivation and performance, we conducted an experiment in a music school where 50 children practiced with both a self-assessment and a non-evaluative robot. Results showed that when the children interacted with the self-assessment robot they had higher motivation and better performance than when they interacted with the non-evaluative robot. Furthermore, interaction effects were found between the robot conditions, the children’s learning stages, and their gender regarding their motivation and rhythm performance. Overall, the study demonstrates a positive influence of robot-initiated self-assessment on children’s musical instrument practice and provided insights for personalized child-robot interaction design.

Delivery robots and personal cargo robots are increasingly sharing space with incidentally co-present persons (InCoPs) on pedestrian ways facing the challenge of socially adequate and safe navigation. Humans are able to effortlessly negotiate this shared space by signalling their skirting intentions via non-verbal gaze cues. In two online-experiments we investigated whether this phenomenon of gaze cuing can be transferred to human–robot interaction. In the first study, participants (n = 92) watched short videos in which either a human, a humanoid robot or a non-humanoid delivery robot moved towards the camera. In each video, the counterpart looked either straight towards the camera or did an eye movement to the right or left. The results showed that when the counterpart gaze cued to their left, also participants skirted more often to the left from their perspective, thereby walking past each other and avoiding collision. Since the participants were recruited in a right-hand driving country we replicated the study in left-hand driving countries (n = 176). Results showed that participants skirted more often to the right when the counterpart gaze cued to the right, and to the left in case of eye movements to the left, expanding our previous result. In both studies, skirting behavior did not differ regarding the type of counterpart. Hence, gaze cues increase the chance to trigger complementary skirting behavior in InCoPs independently of the robot morphology. Equipping robots with eyes can help to indicate moving direction by gaze cues and thereby improve interactions between humans and robots on pedestrian ways.

Socially assistive robots (SARs) have shown promise in the care of people with dementia and in mitigating behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Although SARs are continually tested for efficacy, no current literature outlines a comprehensive strategy that industrial designers may employ to progress the technology of SARs. It was, therefore, essential to expand on existing literature by providing a straightforward approach to SAR design with the recommended design attributes. A systematic review was conducted to formulate recommendations for designing SARs to improve the quality of life of people with dementia. Six databases, including CINAHL, Embase, IEEE, Medline, ProQuest, and Scopus, were searched for relevant articles published between 2011 and 2022. Covidence software was used for screening, data extraction and quality testing. Of the 160 references extracted, 16 studies met the study inclusion criteria. The studies were predominately small sample sizes using various robotic platforms and technologies. Incorporating personal preferences linked to a user’s life experience and choice is a crucial ability of SARs. Natural speech communication is also an important design attribute. However, the overwhelming conclusion is that more research is needed on aesthetics, materials, and interaction capabilities. All stakeholders should be part of a holistic user-centred design process to ensure a fit-for-purpose product.

We designed a coordination–cooperation game dedicated to teaching the theory of mind (ToM) to children with autism spectrum disorder. Children interacted with either a robot or a human. They had to coordinate their gestures with the beats of a ditty sung by their partner (coordination), who then implicitly asked them for help (cooperation). Before and after this cooperation–coordination task, the children performed a helping task that assessed their ToM skills: the ability to infer social partners’ intentions. Despite the regularity and predictability of the robot, children made the most progress in the helping task after interacting with a human. Motor coupling was more stable in child–human than in child–robot dyads. The ability of the social partner to actively maintain a stable social coupling seems to be a primary factor inciting the child to learn and transfer the just-practiced social skills.

Although whole-body touch interaction, e.g., hugging, is essential for human beings from various perspectives, not everyone can interact with intimate friends/family due to physical separations caused by such circumstances as pandemics, geographical constraints, etc. The possibility of human–robot touch interaction is one approach that ameliorates such missing touch interactions. In this study, we developed a robot named Moffuly-II, that hugs people and rubs their heads during a hug because head-touching behaviors are typical affective interactions between intimate persons. Moffuly-II is a large huggable teddy-bear type robot and it has enough capability to both hug and touch the head. We conducted an experiment with human participants and evaluated the effectiveness of combining intra-hug gestures (squeezing and rubbing) and the touch area (back and head). From experimental results, we identified the advantages of implementing rubbing gestures compared to squeezing gestures and some of the advantages of head-touching behaviors compared to back-touching behaviors.

Research in Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) suggests that people attribute gender to (some) robots. In this paper we outline a program of research on the gendering of robots and on the ethical issues raised by such gendering. Understanding which robots are gendered, when, and why, will require careful research in HRI, drawing on anthropology and social psychology, informed by state-of-the-art research in gender studies and critical theory. Design features of robots that might influence the attribution of gender include: appearance; tone of voice; speech repertoire; range and style of movement; behaviour; and, intended function. Robots may be gendered differently depending on: the age, class, sex, ethnicity, and sexuality of the person doing the attributing; local cultural histories; social cues from the designers, the physical and institutional environment, and other users; and the role of the robot. An adequate account of the gender of robots will also need to pay attention to the limits of a sex/gender distinction, which has historically been maintained by reference to a “sex” located in a biological body, when it comes to theorising the gender of robots. We argue that, on some accounts of what it is to be sexed, robots might “have” sex: they might be male and female in just the same way as (most) human beings are. Addressing the ethical issues raised by the gendering of robots will require further progress in “robot media ethics”, as well as an account of the responsibilities of both designers and users in a broader social context.