Iain Werry

What is a robot companion - friend, assistant or butler?

The study presented in this paper explored peoples perceptions and attitudes towards the idea of a future robot companion for the home. A human-centred approach was adopted using questionnaires and human-robot interaction trials to derive data from 28 adults. Results indicated that a large proportion of participants were in favour of a robot companion and saw the potential role as being an assistant, machine or servant. Few wanted a robot companion to be a friend. Household tasks were preferred to child/animal care tasks. Humanlike communication was desirable for a robot companion, whereas humanlike behaviour and appearance were less essential. Results are discussed in relation to future research directions for the development of robot companions.

Can Social Interaction Skills Be Taught by a Social Agent? The Role of a Robotic Mediator in Autism Therapy

Increasingly socially intelligent agents (software or robotic) are used in education, rehabilitation and therapy. This paper discusses the role of interactive, mobile robots as social mediators in the particular domain of autism therapy. This research is part of the project AURORA that studies how mobile robots can be used to teach children with autism basic interaction skills that are important in social interactions among humans. Results from a particular series of trials involving pairs of two children and a mobile robot are described. The results show that the scenario with pairs of children and a robot creates a very interesting social context which gives rise to a variety of different social and non-social interaction patterns, demonstrating the specific problems but also abilities of children with autism in social interactions. Future work will include a closer analysis of interantional structure in human-human and robot-human interaction. We outline a particular framework that we are investigating.

A quantitative technique for analysing robot-human interactions

This paper proposes a technique for quantitatively describing and analysing robot-human interactions in terms of low-level behavioural criteria (so-called micro-behaviours). In order to demonstrate the usefulness of this technique, we describe a case study that was conducted as part of the Aurora project where we develop robotic toys as therapeutic tools for children with autism. In this project we made explicit choices of how to assess robot-human interaction and how to study the impact of interaction. Results of a comparative study with autistic children are shown where we focus on eye gaze behaviour. The results point out common tendencies as well as clear differences among the children, important information for future development of robots in the Aurora project. We propose that this technique is applicable to a wide range of application areas that involve robot-human interactions. The work presented in this paper is intended to open up a discussion on appropriate techniques to systematically assess robot-human interactions. Such research is important for the development of robots in human-inhabited environments.

Going into the wild in child–robot interaction studies: issues in social robotic development

As robots move into more human centric environments we require methods to develop robots that can naturally interact with humans. Doing so requires testing in the real-world and addressing multidisciplinary challenges. Our research is focused on child–robot interaction which includes very young children, for example toddlers, and children diagnosed with autism. More traditional forms of human–robot communication, such as speech or gesture recognition, may not be appropriate with these users, where as touch may help to provide a more natural and appropriate means of communication for such instances. In this paper, we present our findings on these topics obtained from a project involving a spherical robot that acquires information regarding natural touch from analysing sensory patterns over-time to characterize the information. More specifically, from this project we have derived important factors for future consideration, we describe our iterative experimental methodology of testing in and out of the ‘wild’ (lab based and real world), and outline discoveries that were made by doing so.

Towards adaptive autonomous robots in autism therapy: varieties of interactions

This paper reports results deriving from the Aurora project (www.aurora-project.com) where we have pioneered research into the possible use of robots in autism therapy. Autistic children have difficulties in social interaction, communication and fantasy and imagination. As part of the project we run trials where autistic children are playing with a small, non-humanoid mobile robot that can engage children in simple interaction games. In our project we focus on the behavioural, rather than the affective level of robots used in therapy. In this paper we first discuss in more detail varieties of interactions where one child, or two children simultaneously, play with a robot. We then outline a new research direction in the project which studies how a mobile robot can adapt to individual children. Quantitative examples of activity levels in child-robot interactions are included. The paper concludes by outlining future research directions for adaptive robots in autism therapy.

Using proprioceptive sensors for categorizing human-robot interactions

Increasingly researchers are looking outside of normal communication channels (such as video and audio) to provide additional forms of communication or interaction between a human and a robot, or a robot and its environment. Amongst the new channels being investigated is the detection of touch using infrared, proprioceptive and temperature sensors. Our work aims at developing a system that can detect natural touch or interaction coming from children playing with a robot, and adapt to this interaction. This paper reports trials carried out using Roball, a spherical mobile robot, demonstrating how sensory data patterns can be identified in human-robot interaction, and exploited for achieving behavioral adaptation. The experimental methodology used for these trials is reported, which validated the hypothesis that human interaction can not only be perceived from proprioceptive sensors on-board a robotic platform, but that this perception has the ability to lead to adaptation.

Autistic Children’s Co-ordination of Gaze and Talk: Re-examining the ‘Asocial’ Autist

Autism is generally conceptualized as a childhood neurodevelopmental disorder resulting in life-long disability and high care requirements for the majority of individuals concerned. In the UK there are around 500 000 persons so diagnosed (NAS 1999), attracting much research interest. Contemporary accounts of Autism emerging from both research and practitioner perspectives draw upon ‘Wing’s triad of impairments’ (e.g. Wing 1993): ‘core’ categories referring to impairments in language, social interaction and, more variably, imagination/flexible thinking. Their presence, which may be accompanied by a host of other ‘secondary’ symptoms, are central to the diagnosis of the syndrome; they underpin and validate most taxonomic and psychiatric classificatory systems of Autism e.g. DSM IV (APA 1995) and ICD-10 (WHO 1993).