Related papers: Tangible Scenography as a Holistic Design Method f…

The ability of robots to interpret human instructions and execute manipulation tasks necessitates the availability of task-relevant tabletop scenes for training. However, traditional methods for creating these scenes rely on time-consuming…

Despite increasing research efforts on household robotics, robots intended for deployment in domestic settings still struggle with more complex tasks such as interacting with functional elements like drawers or light switches, largely due…

In order to demonstrate the limitations of assistive robotic capabilities in noisy real-world environments, we propose a Decision-Making Scenario analysis approach that examines the challenges due to user and environmental uncertainty, and…

Being able to explore an environment and understand the location and type of all objects therein is important for indoor robotic platforms that must interact closely with humans. However, it is difficult to evaluate progress in this area…

As collaborative robots enter industrial shop floors, logistics, and manufacturing, rapid and flexible evaluation of human-machine interaction has become more important. The availability of consumer headsets for virtual and augmented…

Deploying humanoid robots to interact with real-world environments--such as carrying objects or sitting on chairs--requires generalizable, lifelike motions and robust scene perception. Although prior approaches have advanced each capability…

We propose a novel task of text-controlled human object interaction generation in 3D scenes with movable objects. Existing human-scene interaction datasets suffer from insufficient interaction categories and typically only consider…

What happens when your walls begin to move? This paper explores the design of human-robot interaction for architectural-scale, shape-changing environments. We present findings from two studies: (1) a series of speculative design workshops…

Designing and evaluating personalized and proactive assistant agents remains challenging due to the time, cost, and ethical concerns associated with human-in-the-loop experimentation. Existing Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) methods often…

Autonomous operation of service robotics in human-centric scenes remains challenging due to the need for understanding of changing environments and context-aware decision-making. While existing approaches like topological maps offer…

Holistic scene understanding poses a fundamental contribution to the autonomous operation of a robotic agent in its environment. Key ingredients include a well-defined representation of the surroundings to capture its spatial structure as…

Handovers are basic yet sophisticated motor tasks performed seamlessly by humans. They are among the most common activities in our daily lives and social environments. This makes mastering the art of handovers critical for a social and…

We present an ongoing project that aims to develop a social robot to help children cope with painful and distressing medical procedures in a clinical setting. Our approach uses automated planning as a core component for action selection in…

The demand for social robots in fields like healthcare, education, and entertainment increases due to their emotional adaptation features. These robots leverage multimodal communication, incorporating speech, facial expressions, and…

Interacting with human agents in complex scenarios presents a significant challenge for robotic navigation, particularly in environments that necessitate both collision avoidance and collaborative interaction, such as indoor spaces. Unlike…

We discuss the process of building semantic maps, how to interactively label entities in them, and how to use them to enable context-aware navigation behaviors in human environments. We utilize planar surfaces, such as walls and tables, and…

Spatial reasoning and collaboration are essential for childhood development, yet blind and visually impaired (BVI) children often lack access to tools that foster these skills. Tactile maps and assistive technologies primarily focus on…

Semantic SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) systems enrich robot maps with structural and semantic information, enabling robots to operate more effectively in complex environments. However, these systems struggle in real-world…

The concept of 3D scene graphs is increasingly recognized as a powerful semantic and hierarchical representation of the environment. Current approaches often address this at a coarse, object-level resolution. In contrast, our goal is to…

We propose and study a novel cross-reality environment that seamlessly integrates a monoscopic 2D surface (an interactive screen with touch and pen input) with a stereoscopic 3D space (an augmented reality HMD) to jointly host spatial data…