Related papers: An Ethical Black Box for Social Robots: a draft Op…
Social robots have emerged as valuable contributors to individuals' well-being coaching. Notably, their integration into long-term human coaching trials shows particular promise, emphasizing a complementary role alongside human coaches…
Research in social robotics is commonly focused on designing robots that imitate human behavior. While this might increase a user's satisfaction and acceptance of robots at first glance, it does not automatically aid a non-expert user in…
We consider the design space available for social robots in terms of a hierarchy of functional definitions: the essential properties in terms of a locus of interaction, autonomy, intelligence, awareness of humans as possessors of mental…
The proliferation of robots in public spaces necessitates a deeper understanding of how these robots can interact with those they share the space with. In this paper, we present findings from video analysis of publicly deployed cleaning…
This paper presents the development of a novel ethical reasoning framework for robots. "Robots Can Feel" is the first system for robots that utilizes a combination of logic and human-like emotion simulation to make decisions in morally…
We demonstrate that users may be prone to place an inordinate amount of trust in black box algorithms that are framed as intelligent. We deploy an algorithm that purportedly assesses the positivity and negativity of a users' writing…
Gender is a primary characteristic by which people organize themselves. Previous research has shown that people tend to unknowingly ascribe gender to robots based on features of their embodiment. Yet, robots are not necessarily ascribed the…
Although artificial intelligence (AI) is solving real-world challenges and transforming industries, there are serious concerns about its ability to behave and make decisions in a responsible way. Many AI ethics principles and guidelines for…
The Robot Operating System (ROS) streamlines human processes, increasing the efficiency of various production tasks. However, the security of data transfer operations in ROS is still in its immaturity. Securing data exchange between several…
We introduce a new simulation benchmark "HandoverSim" for human-to-robot object handovers. To simulate the giver's motion, we leverage a recent motion capture dataset of hand grasping of objects. We create training and evaluation…
This paper explores the legal implications of violating "robots.txt", a technical standard widely used by webmasters to communicate restrictions on automated access to website content. Although historically regarded as a voluntary…
There are unwritten guidelines for how to make robot videos that researchers learn from their advisors and pass onto their students. We believe that it is important for the community to collaboratively discuss and develop a standard set of…
In this work, we analyze video data and interviews from a public deployment of two trash barrel robots in a large public space to better understand the sensemaking activities people perform when they encounter robots in public spaces. Based…
Foundation models are increasingly embedded in social robots, mediating not only what they say and do but also how they adapt to users over time. This shift renders traditional ``one-size-fits-all'' explanation strategies especially…
Contemporary debates in AI ethics increasingly foreground the prospective moral status of artificial intelligence and the possibility of extending moral or legal rights to artificial agents. While such discussions raise substantive…
This paper introduces the Safe Protective and Assistive Robot Kit (SPARK), a comprehensive benchmark designed to ensure safety in humanoid autonomy and teleoperation. Humanoid robots pose significant safety risks due to their physical…
Risk Assessment is a well known and powerful method for discovering and mitigating risks, and hence improving safety. Ethical Risk Assessment uses the same approach but extends the envelope of risk to cover ethical risks in addition to…
This paper formally defines a robot system, including its sensing and actuation components, as a general, topological dynamical system. The focus is on determining general conditions under which various environments in which the robot can…
We present Open Badges, an open-source framework an toolkit for measuring and shaping face-to-face social interactions using either custom hardware devices or smart phones, and real-time web-based visualizations. Open Badges is a modular…
Soft robotics is an emerging technology in which engineers create flexible devices for use in a variety of applications. In order to advance the wide adoption of soft robots, ensuring their trustworthiness is essential; if soft robots are…