Akiko Yamazaki

Precision timing in human-robot interaction: coordination of head movement and utterance

As research over the last several decades has shown that non-verbal actions such as face and head movement play a crucial role in human interaction, such resources are also likely to play an important role in human-robot interaction. In developing a robotic system that employs embodied resources such as face and head movement, we cannot simply program the robot to move at random but rather we need to consider the ways these actions may be timed to specific points in the talk. This paper discusses our work in developing a museum guide robot that moves its head at interactionally significant points during its explanation of an exhibit. In order to proceed, we first examined the coordination of verbal and non-verbal actions in human guide-visitor interaction. Based on this analysis, we developed a robot that moves its head at interactionally significant points in its talk. We then conducted several experiments to examine human participant non-verbal responses to the robots head and gaze turns. Our results show that participants are likely to display non-verbal actions, and do so with precision timing, when the robot turns its head and gaze at interactionally significant points than when the robot turns its head at not interactionally significant points. Based on these findings, we propose several suggestions for the design of a guide robot.

Mediating dual ecologies

In this paper we investigated systems for supporting remote collaboration using mobile robots as communication media. It is argued that the use of a remote-controlled robot as a device to support communication involves two distinct ecologies: an ecology at the remote (instructors) site and an ecology at the operators (robot) site. In designing a robot as a viable communication medium, it is essential to consider how these ecologies can be mediated and supported. In this paper, we propose design guidelines to overcome the problems inherent in dual ecologies, and describe the development of a robot named GestureMan-3 based on these guidelines. Our experiments with GestureMan-3 showed that the system supports sequential aspects of the organization of communication.

Museum Guide Robot with Communicative Head Motion

Face or head movement plays an important role in human communication. This paper presents a museum guide robot that moves its head to communicate smoothly with humans. We have analyzed the behavior of human guides when they explain exhibits to visitors. Then, we have developed a robot system that can recognize the humans face movement using vision. The robot turns its head depending on the humans face direction and the contents of utterances. We use the analysis results of human behavior to control the head movements. Experimental results show that it is effective for the guide robot to turn its head while explaining exhibits