Human-Robot Interaction & Coordination: Committee Information

IEEE Robotics and Automation's Technical Committee
on:

Human-Robot Interaction & Coordination

Scope

The recent trend toward developing a new generation of robots that shall participate in our lives and exist in human environments has introduced the need for formulating proper paradigms of interaction between people and robots.

For instance, new applications for robots in health, education, entertainment, the home, and work environments require them to collaborate with people as capable partners. Such robots must have human-oriented interaction skills and capabilities to work with us as teammates, learn from us or teach us, as well as communicate with and understand us. The goals of the interaction between people and robots might potentially span physical, cognitive, task-based, social, or emotional dimensions.

Given this, human-robot interaction broadly poses multi-faceted issues requiring not only technical but also cultural, sociological, psychological, philosophical and even ethical considerations.

The IEEE-RAS Technical Committee on Human-Robot Interaction and Coordination aims at providing a framework for discussion for the variety of issues related to the development of robots intended to interact with human beings.

According to the indications provided by the IEEE-RAS Long Range Planning Committee, final aim of the TC is to contribute to make the IEEE-RAS more attractive to industry and other scientific societies, by identifying cutting-edge themes to be discussed and focused by research. The TC is also proposed as an interface towards the needs of industry and Society, so a special care is taken in identifying the topics of interest so as to fit such needs.

In fact, the TC objectives are to organize Special Issues in major scientific journals, as well as Special Sessions and Workshops at the main IEEE-RAS Conferences, on the identified themes. Nevertheless, in the aim of attracting other scientific societies, Special Sessions and Workshops at, or in conjunction with, other conferences are also pursued.

Activities

Workshop on Human Robot Interaction: Cognitive factors and their applications Workshop May 17, 2009 - Kobe, Japan
Contact Information: Yasushi Nakauchi (nakauchi at iit dot tsukuba dot ac dot jp)
We TC on HRIC will hold the above workshop (WW-H3)at May 13, douring ICRA2009, Kobe, Japan.
The aim of this half day workshop is to discuss the state-of-the-art in human-robot interaction and bridges several approaches related to human-robot interaction, especially robot development and human behavior understanding. Roughly speaking, Japan and Korea are leading in the development of humanoids and USA and European countries are leading in cognitive architecture of the robots and human behavior understanding. It is important to bridge to these activities and establish a seamless research area.

Throughout the workshop, we will focus on the core scientific questions as well as key engineering issues related to the design, implementation and use of such robots for a broad range of applications ranging from health care, to construction, to planetary exploration. Leading researchers will present their experiences and lessons learned from real-world systems. The workshop will culminate in a panel discussion to identify key scientific and technical challenges.

This workshop is designed to benefit researchers and students who are interested in developing interactive robots and the state-of-the-art in the close interdisciplinary and internationally collaborative research areas.
ROMAN2008 Announcement August 1, 2008 - Munich, Germany
The 17th International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication
"Human-Robot Interaction" A Special Issue of IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO) Publication - Journal special issue September 30, 2006 - IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO)
Contact Information: Laschi Cecilia (cecilia at arts dot sssup dot it)
Topics:
The papers submitted to this Special Issue should include, but may not be limited to, the investigation of the following research challenges:

Multi-modal interaction
Adjustable autonomy
Interaction control in robotic systems
Natural interfaces
Cognitive modelling/science in Human-Robot Interaction
Robots in the assistance of Humans
Reciprocal learning
Human-guided learning
Human-Robot Cooperation in Teamwork
Case studies in Human-Robot Interaction
Important Dates:

June 1, 2006: Call for Papers
October 15, 2006 (extended): Deadline for Paper Submission
February 28, 2007: Completion of First Review
June 30, 2007: Completion of Final Review
December 2007 (tentative): Publication
Workshop on Collaborative Human-Robot Teamwork Workshop May 19, 2006 - ICRA 2006 at Orlando,FL
Contact Information: Cynthia Breazeal (cynthiab at media dot mit dot edu)
The aim of this full day workshop is to discuss the state-of-the-art in human-robot collaboration for mixed-initiative teamwork. Throughout the workshop, we will focus on the core scientific questions as well as key engineering issues related to the design, implementation and use of such robots for a broad range of applications ranging from health care, to construction, to planetary exploration. Leading researchers from academic, commercial and government organizations will present their experiences and lessons learned from real-world systems. The workshop will culminate in a panel discussion to identify key scientific and technical challenges, likely future advances and potential fields of application.

This workshop is designed to benefit researchers interested in developing effective robot teammates for human-robot teams, scientists who want to understand the state-of-the-art in collaborative human-robot teamwork, and professionals planning collaborative human-robot applications.
Human-Robot Interaction Organized Session December 6, 2005 - Humanoids 2005, Tsukuba, Japan
Contact Information: Cecilia Laschi (cecilia at arts dot sssup dot it)
Human-Robot Interaction and Interfaces Organized Session October 2, 2004 - IROS 2004, Sendai, Japan
Contact Information: Cecilia Laschi (cecilia at arts dot sssup dot it)
Human-Robot Interaction and Communication in Human Environments Workshop April 27, 2004 - New Orleans, LA, USA
Contact Information: Cecilia Laschi (cecilia at arts dot sssup dot it)
Workshop Schedule
8.30-8.35: Welcome
8.35-8.40: “The cogniron Project”, Raja Chatila, LAAS, France
8.40-9.20: Shigeki Sugano, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
9.20-10.00: Kazuhiro Kosuge, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
10.00-10.30: Coffee Break
10.30-11.10: “Sharing skills: Using Augmented Reality for Human-Robot Collaboration”, Björn Giesler and Ruediger Dillman, University of Karlsruhe, Germany
11.10-11.50: “Cognitive Robotics: Perception - Situative Reasoning - Acting”, Gerhard Sagerer, University of Bielefeld, Germany
11.50-12.30: “Concept and Development on a Robotic Information Home Appliance ‘ApriAlpha'”, Nobuto Matsuhira, Toshiba Corp., Japan
12.30-14.00: Lunch
14.00-14.40: “Teaching and Working with Robots as a collaboration”, Cynthia Breazeal, MIT media lab, USA
14.40-15.20: “Interaction Control in Rehabilitation and Assistive Robotics”, Eugenio Guglielmelli, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy
15.20-16.00: Coffee Break
16.00-16.40: Rachid Alami, LAAS, France
16.40-17.20: “Emotion-based Human-Robot Interaction: a Soft Computing Approach”, Dong S. Kwon and Zenn Bien, KAIST, Korea
17.20-18.00: Concluding discussion

Abstract
In the last years, robotics research has focussed more and more intensively on applications oriented towards service to humans, medical assistance, and human-friendliness in general. This led to a number of impressive results in academic and industrial contexts, in the development of robots in diverse shapes, as humanoids, pets, medical tools, or appliances. While the application range is wide, and so is the possible shaping of this kind of robots, a common element is that they are increasingly introduced into the Society of Humans. This is also related to the growing development of intelligent environments, like smart homes, or domotic systems in general. Crucial aspects of robot design are therefore the modalities, mechanisms and tools of human-robot interaction, of communication with human beings, with the environment and possibly with other robots, and of interaction of the robotic systems with human environments, modelled on persons' needs and habits, and nomore arranged according to the robot functions.

The IEEE-RAS Technical Committee (TC) on Human-Robot Interaction and Coordination aims at providing a framework for discussion for the variety of issues related to the development of robots intended to interact with human beings. The proposed workshop on Human-Robot Interaction and Communication in Human Environments is promoted by this TC, for stimulating a discussion and comparison of diverse experiences world-wide, in academic and industrial robotics research, and for outlining critical issues and basic indications. The workshop is proposed as a full-day event, with time slots for presentations by ten speakers from Japan, US and Europe, as well as appropriate time slots for open discussion.

Motivation and objectives
With the increasing introduction of robots into human environments, human-robot interaction poses multi-faceted problems, requiring not only technical but also wider cultural considerations. How to model the interaction of a human being with a robot? How to manage the physical, intellectual and emotional exchange between human beings and robots? How to realize an effective communication of robots with the human ‘smart' environments? These questions and many others are the stimulus for the proposed workshop, aimed at gathering the robotics researchers facing the problems related to human-robot interaction so as to provide an overview of existing experiences and to animate a discussion on open issues and main challenges.

The final goal of the proposed workshop is to provide audience and participants with a clearer view on critical factors and key issues for realizing effective, acceptable and reliable human-robot interaction and with indications and hints for further research and developments in this field, based on the current diverse experiences presented by the speakers.

Primary and secondary audience
The workshop is primarily intended for the researchers facing the challenge of human-robot interaction in the development of their robots, in academic or industrial research. The workshop is intended to provide stimulating hints and possibly helpful indications for the development of those robots expected to interact with humans, being them humanoids, pet robots, or even specialized service robots, for assistance, entertainment, or other services. The workshop is therefore intended to address a wide audience, from a sectorial point of view, so as to reflect the multidisciplinarity of the addresses theme.

It is intended to address not only robotics experts facing new problems posed by human-robot interaction, but also students being educated to the new challenges of robotics research.

Organizers

Prof. Kazuhiro Kosuge
Prof. Shigeki Sugano
Dr. Cecilia Laschi
Prof. Raja Chatila
Sensory-motor Co-ordination in Human-Robot Interaction Workshop October 1, 2002 - Lausanne, Switzerland
Contact Information: Cecilia Laschi (cecilia at arts dot sssup dot it)
SPEAKERS
Shigeki Sugano, Humanoid Robotics Institute, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Kazuhiro Kosuge, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Cecilia Laschi, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy, & Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Atsuo Takanishi, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
Giulio Sandini, University of Genova, Italy
Auke Jan Ijspeert, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
John Zelek, University of Guelph, Canada
Tetsuya Ogata, Riken, Brain Science Institute, Japan

MOTIVATIONS
Sensory-motor coordination is addressed here as the capability of humans and robots to perceive external stimuli, explore their environments and plan their motor behavior accordingly.
Sensory-motor coordination has been investigated in robotics for many years, especially in relation to all those applications requiring a dynamic behavior planning. This represented maybe the first big revolution in robotics: from accurately programmed sequences of motions in structured environments, to dynamic behaviors planned according to the current status of the robot and of the external world. From an application point of view, this corresponded to the employment of robots outside factories, in service applications, in contact with human beings, in humans' environments, that cannot in general be modeled on the robot needs.
Without focusing specific applications, sensory-motor coordination has been investigated by some robotics researchers by an anthropomorphic approach, aimed at achieving the flexibility, robustness, adaptability and learning ability of human sensory-motor coordination. The anthropomorphic approach include the identification of human-like sensory modalities, the development of human-like artificial sensory systems, the definition of human-like models of perception and motor coordination, based on neurophysiological knowledge, the development of human-like control schemes, and the realization of humanoid robots or human-like robotic body parts.
Recently, the wide spreading of a new generation of robots, pervading our lives and environments, as humanoids, pets, or assistants, introduced the need for a more strict interaction between human beings and robots. Sensory-motor coordination, in this context, becomes a critical tools for achieving interaction, communication and mutual understanding.

OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE
The workshop aims at providing a framework for discussing how sensory-motor coordination affects human-robot interaction and how the solutions to the general problem of the sensory-motor coordination can be applied in the realization of proper human-robot interaction. Conversely, the workshop will stimulate an analysis of how the variety of problems related to human-robot interaction introduces new challenges for sensory-motor coordination development.
To this aim, the workshop gathers scientists with experiences in the development of perception capabilities and sensory-motor control in robots and scientists who focused the different aspects of human-robot interaction. The workshop is intended to offer participants a clear view of the open issues in developing human-like sensory-motor coordination, as well as of the critical factors and key issues for realizing effective, acceptable and reliable human-robot interaction. The meeting between experts in the different involved research areas will also provide the opportunity to formulate indications and hints for further research and developments.

ADDRESSED AUDIENCE
The workshop is intended for all the researchers facing the challenge of human-robot interaction in the development of their robots, being them humanoids, pet robots, or specialized service robots for assistance, entertainment, or other services, in academic or industrial research. The workshop also addresses the robotics researchers developing artificial perception systems and control or behavior planning schemes for their robots, with special reference to those applying an anthropomorphic approach.

The workshop therefore addresses a wide audience, from a sector point of view, so as to reflect the multidisciplinarity and the pervasiveness of the theme; it is also intended to a wide range of researchers, from robotics experts facing new problems posed by human-robot interaction and sensory-motor coordination, to students being educated to the new challenges of robotics research.
Human-Robot Interaction Workshop May 11, 2002 - Washington DC, USA
Contact Information: Cecilia Laschi (cecilia at arts dot sssup dot it)

Background

URL:http://hri.iit.tsukuba.ac.jp/tchric/
Founding Date: January 1, 1999
Member Count: 30
Fall 2010 Committee Chairs:
- Laschi, Cecilia (cecilia at arts dot sssup dot it)
  - Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
  - corresponding chair - send email to join committee
- Nakauchi, Yasushi (nakauchi at iit dot tsukuba dot ac dot jp)
  - University of Tsukuba
  - corresponding chair - send email to join committee
- Breazeal, Cynthia (cynthiab at media dot mit dot edu)
  - MIT Media Lab
Committee Chairs Emeritus:
Recent Innovations Summary:click here to download