Related papers: Designing robots with the context in mind -- One d…
Service robots are increasingly deployed in public spaces, performing functional tasks such as making deliveries. To better integrate them into our social environment and enhance their adoption, we consider integrating social identities…
College students with ADHD respond positively to simple socially assistive robots (SARs) that monitor attention and provide non-verbal feedback, but studies have been done only in brief in-lab sessions. We present an initial design and…
Visual and scalar-field (e.g., chemical) sensing are two of the options robot teams can use to perceive their environments when performing tasks. We give the first comparison of the computational characteristic of visual and scalar-field…
A context-aware recommender system (CARS) applies sensing and analysis of user context to provide personalized services. The contextual information can be driven from sensors in order to improve the accuracy of the recommendations. Yet,…
This paper develops a novel framework called Providers-Clients-Robots (PCR), applicable to socially assistive robots that support research on shared understanding in human-robot interactions. Providers, Clients, and Robots share an…
Artificial Intelligence (AI) repeatedly match or outperform radiologists in lab experiments. However, real-world implementations of radiological AI-based systems are found to provide little to no clinical value. This paper explores how to…
We propose augmenting the empathetic capacities of social robots by integrating non-verbal cues. Our primary contribution is the design and labeling of four types of empathetic non-verbal cues, abbreviated as SAFE: Speech, Action (gesture),…
While visual augmentation dominates the augmented reality landscape, devices like Meta Ray-Ban audio smart glasses signal growing industry movement toward audio augmented reality (AAR). Hearing is a primary channel for sensing context,…
In this paper we report on first insights from interviews with teachers and students on using social robots in computer science class in sixth grade. Our focus is on learning about requirements and potential applications. We are…
Over the past decade, a multitude of service robots have been developed to fulfill a wide range of practical purposes. Notably, roles such as reception and robotic guidance have garnered extensive popularity. In these positions, robots are…
Animal welfare education could greatly benefit from customized robots to help children learn about animals and their behavior, and thereby promote positive, safe child-animal interactions. To this end, we ran Participatory Design workshops…
We present a novel framework for estimating accident-prone regions in everyday indoor scenes, aimed at improving real-time risk awareness in service robots operating in human-centric environments. As robots become integrated into daily…
Affect-aware socially assistive robotics (SAR) tutors have great potential to augment and democratize professional therapeutic interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) from different socioeconomic backgrounds.…
Poor social skills in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are associated with reduced independence in daily life. Current interventions for improving the social skills of individuals with ASD fail to represent the complexity of real-life social…
The capability of a mobile robot to efficiently and safely perform complex missions is limited by its knowledge of the environment, namely the situation. Advanced reasoning, decision-making, and execution skills enable an intelligent agent…
Physical embodiment is a required component for robots that are structurally coupled with their real-world environments. However, most socially interactive robots do not need to physically interact with their environments in order to…
The common consensus is that robots designed to work alongside or serve humans must adhere to the ethical standards of their operational environment. To achieve this, several methods based on established ethical theories have been…
Autonomous operations of robots in unknown environments are challenging due to the lack of knowledge of the dynamics of the interactions, such as the objects' movability. This work introduces a novel Causal Reinforcement Learning approach…
Large language models (LLMs) are being integrated into socially assistive robots (SARs) and other conversational agents providing mental health and well-being support. These agents are often designed to sound empathic and supportive in…
In this study, we investigate the human perception of gender and bias toward non-humanoid robots. As robots increasingly integrate into various sectors beyond industry, it is essential to understand how humans engage with non-humanoid…