Birte Carlmeyer

Towards Closed Feedback Loops in HRI: Integrating InproTK and PaMini

In this paper, we present a first step towards incremental processing for modeling asynchronous human-robot interactions, to allow closed feedback loops in HRI. We achieve this by combining the incremental natural language processing framework InproTK with the human-robot dialog manager PaMini, which is based on generic interaction patterns. This enables the robot to provide incremental feedback during interaction and allows the user to give online feedback and corrections. We provide a first realization scenario as a proof of concept for our approach.

Welcome to the Future – How Naïve Users Intuitively Address an Intelligent Robotics Apartment

The purpose of this Wizard-of-Oz study was to explore the intuitive verbal and non-verbal goal-directed behavior of naive participants in an intelligent robotics apartment. Participants had to complete seven mundane tasks, for instance, they were asked to turn on the light. Participants were explicitly instructed to consider nonstandard ways of completing the respective tasks. A multi-method approach revealed that most participants favored speech and interfaces like switches and screens to communicate with the intelligent robotics apartment. However, they required instructions to use the interfaces in order to perceive them as competent targets for human-machine interaction. Hence, first important steps were taken to investigate how to design an intelligent robotics apartment in a user-centered and user-friendly manner.

Look at Me!: Self-Interruptions as Attention Booster?

In this paper we present results of an exploratory experiment investigating the effects of a contingently self-interrupting vs non-self-interrupting virtual agent who transmits information to a human interaction partner. In the experimental condition self-interruptions of the agent were triggered by an external event whereas in the control group the agent did not react to this event. We measured the effect of the agents self-interruptions on human attention, memory performance and subjective ratings. In this paper we discuss the results with respect to the design of incremental human-agent dialogue modeling.

Exploring self-interruptions as a strategy for regaining the attention of distracted users

In this paper we present a first exploratory study investigating the effects of a contingently self-interrupting vs non-self-interrupting virtual agent in a smart home environment who transmits information to a human interaction partner. We tested the hypothesis that self-interruptions are a strategy for keeping the users attention, as measured by post-interaction information recall. Interestingly, our experiment does not allow us to confirm this hypothesis. In fact, users found the self-interruption strategy to be less-likeable. From our observations, we draw suggestions for future implementations of attention-retainment strategies.

Ready for the Next Step?: Investigating the Effect of Incremental Information Presentation in an Object Fetching Task

In this paper we present a human-agent interaction study investigating the effect of incremental (just in time) information presentation on human task performance and the subjective ratings of the agent. On the one hand we show that the task of fetching ingredients and utensils for cooking is better performed in case of incremental information presentation. On the other hand it yields a negative effect on the subjective ratings of the agent.

“KogniChef”: A Cognitive Cooking Assistant

Cooking is a complex activity of daily living that requires intuition, coordination, multitasking and time-critical planning abilities. We introduce KogniChef, a cognitive cooking assistive system that provides users with interactive, multi-modal and intuitive assistance while preparing a meal. Our system augments common kitchen appliances with a wide variety of sensors and user-interfaces, interconnected internally to infer the current state in the cooking process and to provide smart guidance. Our vision is to endow the system with the processing and the reasoning skills needed to guide a cook through recipes, similar to the assistance an expert chef would be able to provide on-site.

The Hesitating Robot - Implementation and First Impressions

In this paper we present the implementation of a robot, that dynamically hesitates, based on the attention of the human interaction partner. To this end, we outline requirements for a real-time interaction scenario, describe the realization of a disfluency insertion strategy, and present observations from the first tests of the system.

Interaction Model for Incremental Information Presentation

In this paper we present an interaction model for incremental information presentation for situated human-agent assistive systems, which support a user in daily activities such as packing a bag or fetching ingredients for a cake or a menu. In a smart home interaction scenario, we provide a first realization as a proof of concept for our approach.

Demonstration of emotion modeling using Flobi

Social robots are designed to interact in a more human and intuitive manner. In this hands-on demo we present an emotional system which is capable to produce human like emotional expressions. Via touchscreen given input results in a realtime facial expression on a physical and a simulated robot head. Categories and Subject Descriptors I.2.9 [Artificial Intelligence]: Robotics— human-robot interaction General Terms Design, Human Factors