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| Introduction Human-robot interaction stems from two fields of research: one, of course, is human-computer interaction and the other is artificial intelligence. This field combines the dream of the AI field of creating an intelligent being, creature, or program with HCI's vision of building systems that are centered around the user's needs and desires. My work focuses in two areas: understanding the human side of this interaction and embodying social cues in interactive robots. |
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| Humans in interaction There has been a great deal of work done in the area of human-robot interaction to understand how a human interacts with a computer. There is broader work that discusses how people interact with various forms of technology, from the toaster to the telephone to the television. There has been very little work done, however, in understanding how people interact with robots. As we move into our science-fiction-inspired future, where robots will inhabit our workplaces and our homes, it is important to understand how to characterize these interactions. |
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| Sociable robots What makes a toy compelling? Why will children talk to their toys for hours on end? Why do adults talk to their computers or even their cars? How do we know how to behave when we meet someone new or are in a new situation? Will the answers to any of these questions translate into robotics? These are the questions that we are trying to answer through our research in human-robot interaction. One of the main goals is to understand how people interact with a robot and then know what the social cues that the robot must give to make this interaction interesting. |
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