Alle Publikationen
2019
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(2019): Zur Verschränkung von User Experience und Usability Engineering: Merkmale, Prinzipien und Vorgehensmodelle, S. 193-211. Online verfügbar unter https://pubpsych.zpid.de/pubpsych/DetailedView.action?print=&q=ID%3DDFK_0221357, zuletzt geprüft am 17.12.2019
Abstract: Anhand einer Aufarbeitung der vorhandenen Ansätze wird analysiert, welche Erweiterungen des traditionellen Usability Engineering sich durch das neue Konzept User Experience (UX) hinsichtlich der Ziele und Methoden zur Gestaltung interaktiver Systeme ergeben. Nach einem kurzen Überblick über beide Konzeptionen werden die proklamierten Ziele und Methoden von UX für den Gestaltungsprozess interaktiver Systeme vertieft. Die terminologische Diskussion von UX zeigt eine Vielfalt von Ansätzen. Bezüglich Gestaltung und Evaluierung lässt sich erkennen, dass UX-Vorgehensmodelle besonders im Rahmen der Analyse von Anforderungen und des Entwurfs durch Usability-Engineering-Techniken Berücksichtigung finden können. Mit Hilfe der vorliegenden Ergebnisse kann die praktische Anwendbarkeit von UX-Konzepten im Rahmen der Entwicklung interaktiver Systeme verbessert werden.
Keywords: Bedienung & Handhabung -
(2019): A video-based assessment of likeability and usability in a play application of robots for children. In: Measuring Business Excellence 23 (2). DOI: 10.1108/MBE-11-2018-0093
DOI: https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid:f4084882-5d9f-4ea5-842e-91702d0ba245 Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conduct research with children, who have different abilities from adults, in terms of language understanding and level of attention, is a challenging task, especially concerning novel interactive systems such as social robots. Consequently, self-reporting methods are often replaced or supplemented by observational methods that are usually carried out taking advantage of video recordings. However, some limitations make this approach challenging for studies conducted with groups of children in real-world environments, whose relevance is being addressed more and more frequently in human-robot interaction (HRI) research. Thus, there is a growing need for rigorous observation approaches in unstructured test environments. Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents an alternative analysis approach, in relation to an experimental child-robot interaction (CRI) application, which was developed at the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, China. The proposed methodology is based on the analysis of video recordings of in-wild activities of children with a robot. The methodology has the aim of providing a framework to facilitate knowledge identification and structuring. It was implemented for experiment evaluation and validation purposes and to propose a reference structure for the organization of new experiments and the stimulation of new ideas and activities in the design process. Findings: This methodology provides a logical structure, which can be used to identify the effectiveness or limits of design choices, pertaining to such aspects as the morphology or movement of robots or the choice of their specific role in education, all of which play crucial roles in the design process and could be improved to achieve better results. This structured identification is a practical implication for the design process, above all when it is oriented toward social robots and their interaction with children or elderly senile people. In this case, the outcomes were the identification of important elements of an experiment (psychological profiles of the involved children and possible problems or risks) and their impact on the design process. Originality/value: The methodological approach, which structures and uses cognitive maps to elaborate multicriteria evaluation models, is not new to the operations research field (where it is defined as a multimethodology application of Soft OR), but it has not yet been applied in the field of HRI studies, to analyze children’s perception of a robot and to identify the factors that can affect a good CRI or to structure knowledge that can be shared to guide the design process of robots for the experience of children playing.</p>
Keywords: Bedienung & Handhabung -
(2019): Sharing the workplace with robots? New tool helps designers create safer socially oriented machines. In: Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 22 (5), S. 360-361. DOI: 10.1089/cyber.2019.29151.ceu
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.29151.ceu Abstract: This article aims to to describe the characteristics of current cyberpsychology research in Europe. In particular, CyberEurope aims at describing the leading research groups and projects running on the other side of the Ocean. Human safety is a primary concern in human–robot interaction (HRI). When there is physical contact between humans and robots, dangerous collisions are likely. The safety map helps users to determine if the robot they are designing is capable of inflicting specific injuries during unexpected collisions. They can also pinpoint the most dangerous areas in the robot’s workspace and compare their robot with others in terms of safety characteristics. As a result, designers have clear information at their fingertips about the injuries most likely to occur during operation. This helps to guide the hardware design process, and also contributes to safe control and motion planning for the robot being designed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
2018
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(2018): Long-term cohabitation with a social robot: A case study of the influence of human attachment patterns. In: International Journal of Social Robotics 10 (1), S. 163-176. DOI: 10.1007/s12369-017-0439-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-017-0439-2 Abstract: This paper presents the methodology, setup and results of a study involving long-term cohabitation with a fully autonomous social robot. During the experiment, three people with different attachment styles (as defined by John Bowlby) spent ten days each with an EMYS type robot, which was installed in their own apartments. It was hypothesized that the attachment patterns represented by the test subjects influence the interaction. In order to provide engaging and non-schematic actions suitable for the experiment requirements, the existing robot control system was modified, which allowed EMYS to become an effective home assistant. Experiment data was gathered using the robot’s state logging utility (during the cohabitation period) and in-depth interviews (after the study). Based on the analyzed data, it was concluded that the satisfaction stemming from prolonged cohabitation and the assessment of robot’s operation depend on the user’s attachment style. Results lead to first robot’s behavior personalization guidelines for different user’s attachment patterns. The study confirmed readiness of a EMYS robot for satisfying, autonomous, and long-term cohabitation with users. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2018): Anticipation enhanced behavior-based robotics using integrated system dynamics. ProQuest Information & Learning.
Abstract: Behavior-based robotics specifies behavior as the interaction between the task, environment, and agent with specific capabilities that creates a successful behavior to attain task achievement. Observed task achieving behavior is confirmed and validated by a prespecified performance criteria. For behavior-based robotics, conditions in the niche environment are directly matched to and cue behavior choice that yields task achievement by the robot agent. A minimalist approach attains this behavior choice from only a few possible scenarios for the niche environment and a simple associated response. Previous work in behavior-based robotics has been generally limited to a reactive response to environmental conditions, with little or no notion of looking ahead to potential successful future outcomes. Focus on the notion of anticipation provides a novel addition to the task achieving behavior-based robotics approach. Anticipation is the formulation of suitable processes to manifest behavior from a small set of feasible scenarios in the near future before the outcome is certain. Anticipation results in successful behavior beyond mere reactions to niche conditions that leads to desired task achievement with expected perceived immediate or later reward based on suitable fitness matched to the niche. The approach to add anticipation developed a formal system dynamics model to represent previously known behavior archetypes, extended them with the notion of anticipation, and enhanced the system dynamics operation. Simulation of a robot instance using anticipation for wall following, called the TOURIST, was conducted to gain insight into behaviors that would be observable in a real world natural system. Simulation of the TOURIST robot with anticipation built into the archetype programming illustrated the advantages of including the notion of anticipation. Anticipation allows a TOURIST robot agent to travel a smoother path and make choice of small increments in behavior change that produce more desired longer term responses. With anticipation, numerous small adjustments are made that require less energy than large spins of the SEEK behavior, so only one third of the SEEK behaviors occur, and thus wastes less energy and time. Also with anticipation, the TOURIST makes twice as many cycles of the area at the same speed and in the same time, so a broader range of area is covered and can more readily perceive any dynamic changes in the overall arena. The methods and insights were added to a real world robot instance, and the benefits of anticipation were observed to occur. A specific metric, ANNum, was developed for describing operation of the TOURIST robot. Greater metric values were found with anticipation on, reflecting more behavior responsiveness to the niche per unit time when anticipation was used. In conclusion, anticipation enhances robotic performance by manifesting task achieving behavior that is properly matched to a specific niche condition. Anticipation extends beyond the merely reactive behavior previously used in behavior-based robotics by acting like a funnel or channel to guide the behavior choice to match a specific niche. The observed behavior choice is manifest before the outcome is realized and certain to occur. As a practical result, the robot agent is able to make many smaller adjustments earlier and faster with better chance for desired outcome than would be observed without anticipation. It circumvents repeated larger adjustments that waste more resources and take more time for task achievement. Such enhanced anticipation behavior avoids obstructions and potential destructive paths or motion, and is more able to achieve tasks such as to find objects and move along walls with minimal effort. Thus, anticipation that is added to robot architecture improves behavior choices to realize desired task achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2018): Ms An (meeting students’ academic needs): A socially adaptive robot tutor for student engagement in math education. ProQuest Information & Learning.
Abstract: This research presents a new, socially adaptive robot tutor, Ms. An ( Meeting Students’ Academic N eeds). The goal of this research was to use a decision tree model to develop a socially adaptive robot tutor that predicted and responded to student emotion and performance to actively engage students in mathematics education. The novelty of this multi-disciplinary project is the combination of the fields of HRI, AI, and education. In this study we 1) implemented a decision tree model to classify student emotion and performance for use in adaptive robot tutoring-an approach not applied to educational robotics; 2) presented an intuitive interface for seamless robot operation by novice users; and 3) applied direct human teaching methods (guided practice and progress monitoring) for a robot tutor to engage students in mathematics education. Twenty 4th and 5th grade students in rural South Carolina participated in a between subjects study with two conditions: A) with a non-adaptive robot (control group); and B) with a socially adaptive robot (adaptive group). Students engaged in two one-on-one tutoring sessions to practice multiplication per the South Carolina 4th and 5 th grade mathematics state standards. Although our decision tree models were not very predictive, the results gave answers to our current questions and clarity for future directions. Our adaptive strategies to engage students academically were effective. Further, all students enjoyed working with the robot and we did not see a difference in emotional engagement across the two groups. This study offered insight for developing a socially adaptive robot tutor to engage students academically and emotionally while practicing multiplication. Results from this study will inform the human-robot interaction (HRI) and artificial intelligence (AI) communities on best practices and techniques within the scope of this work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2018): Intuitive control of mobile robots: An architecture for autonomous adaptive dynamic behaviour integration. In: Cognitive Processing 19 (2), S. 245-264. DOI: 10.1007/s10339-017-0818-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-017-0818-5 Abstract: In this paper, we present a novel approach to human–robot control. Taking inspiration from behaviour-based robotics and self-organisation principles, we present an interfacing mechanism, with the ability to adapt both towards the user and the robotic morphology. The aim is for a transparent mechanism connecting user and robot, allowing for a seamless integration of control signals and robot behaviours. Instead of the user adapting to the interface and control paradigm, the proposed architecture allows the user to shape the control motifs in their way of preference, moving away from the case where the user has to read and understand an operation manual, or it has to learn to operate a specific device. Starting from a tabula rasa basis, the architecture is able to identify control patterns (behaviours) for the given robotic morphology and successfully merge them with control signals from the user, regardless of the input device used. The structural components of the interface are presented and assessed both individually and as a whole. Inherent properties of the architecture are presented and explained. At the same time, emergent properties are presented and investigated. As a whole, this paradigm of control is found to highlight the potential for a change in the paradigm of robotic control, and a new level in the taxonomy of human in the loop systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2018): Impacts of visual occlusion and its resolution in robot-mediated social collaborations. In: International Journal of Social Robotics, S. 101-121. DOI: 10.1007/s12369-018-0480-9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-018-0480-9 Abstract: In this work, we contribute to the current understanding of human behaviors in telepresence when visual occlusions are introduced in a remote collaboration context. Occlusions can occur when users in remote locations are engaged in physical collaborative tasks. This can yield to frustration and inefficient collaboration between the collaborators. In this work, we aim to design a better user interface to improve remote collaboration experience. We conducted two human-subjects experiments to investigate the following interlinked research questions: (a) what are the impacts of occlusion on remote collaborations, and (b) can an autonomous handling of occlusions improve telepresence collaboration experience for remote users? Results from our preliminary experiment demonstrate that occlusions introduce a significant social interference that necessitates collaborators to reorient or reposition themselves. Subsequently, we conducted a main experiment to evaluate the efficacy of autonomous occlusion handling for remote users. Results from this experiment indicate that the use of an autonomous controller yields a remote user experience that is more comparable (in terms of their vocal non-verbal behaviors [’The vocal non-verbal behaviour includes all spoken cues that surround the verbal message and influence its actual meaning.’ (Vinciarelli in Image Vis Comput 27(12):1743–1759, 2009)], task performance and perceived workload) to collaborations performed by two co-located parties. Finally, we discuss the implications of a better controller design for similar robot-mediated social interactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2018): Extension of grounding mechanism for abstract words: Computational methods insights. In: Artificial Intelligence Review 50 (3), S. 467-494. DOI: 10.1007/s10462-017-9608-9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10462-017-9608-9 Abstract: The attempts to model cognitive phenomena effectively have split the research community in two paradigms: symbolic and connectionist. The extension of grounding phenomenon for abstract words is very important for social interactions of cognitive robots in real scenarios. This paper reviews the strength of symbolic and connectionist methods to address the abstract word grounding problem in cognitive robots. In particular, the presented work is focused on designing and simulating cognitive robotics model to achieve a grounding mechanism for abstract words by using the semantic network approach, as well as examining the utility of connectionist computation for the same problem. Two neuro-robotics models based on feed forward neural network and recurrent neural network are presented to see the pros and cons of connectionist approach. The simulation results and review of attributes of these methods reveal that the proposed symbolic model offers the solution to the problem of grounding abstract words with attributes like high data storage capacity with recall accuracy, structural integrity and temporal sequence handling. Whereas, connectionist computation based solutions give more natural solution to this problem with some shortcomings that include combinatorial ambiguity, low storage capacity and structural rigidity. The presented results are not only important for the advancement in communication system of cognitive robot, also provide evidence for embodied nature of abstract language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2018): Design for social accessibility: Incorporating social factors in the design of accessible technologies. ProQuest Information & Learning.
Abstract: Assistive technologies are intended to help people with disabilities accomplish everyday tasks. Yet, such technologies are traditionally designed mainly with functionality in mind, not with consideration for social situations of use. As a result, assistive technologies can be awkward-looking and socially awkward to use, leading to misperceptions about these technologies and their users. These misperceptions can impact users’ sense of self-efficacy and self-confidence, leading assistive technology users to feel self-conscious when using devices in public or social settings, ultimately limiting access. Furthermore, most technology design approaches either assume accessibility is ’someone else’s job’ or that functional accessibility is the only focus, promoting an inclination to overlook accessibility in design overall and preventing designers from fully considering social aspects of accessibility. In this dissertation, I present original empirical studies that investigate the social implications of assistive technology use. I conceptualize ’socially accessible design,’ and examine how to effectively incorporate social factors into user-centered design techniques. To address the negative and stigmatizing social perceptions associated with assistive technologies, I define Social Accessibility as a new property of accessible technologies extending our understanding of accessibility to include considerations of both functional usability and social situations of use. I present Design for Social Accessibility as a guiding perspective and a set of design tools and techniques emphasizing social factors in technology design. Through a series of design workshops, I demonstrate how designers can use Design for Social Accessibility by: focusing on functional usability and social situations of use; increasing awareness for how design can engender, rather than impede, access for people with visual impairments, particularly within social contexts; and working with users with and without visual impairments in assessing when design influences self-confidence and self-consciousness. In this dissertation, I: (1) define social accessibility as a new property of technology artifacts that extends accessibility to include functional and social factors; (2) demonstrate that Design for Social Accessibility can help improve the design of technologies usable by people with visual impairments when applied to design methods by bringing awareness to designers about how design engenders or impedes access in functional and social factors of use; and (3) develop and verify a tool that can help designers assess the social accessibility of technology design. The contributions of this dissertation are conceptual‐-motivating the need for, and defining social accessibility and how it relates to functional accessibility; and empirical and methodological‐-showing how social factors influence assistive technology use and access, and applying findings to increase awareness, change perspectives, and improve tools and techniques for the design of socially accessible technologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2018): Technology with embodied physical actions: Understanding interactions and effectiveness gains in teams working with robots. ProQuest Information & Learning.
Abstract: Teams in different areas are increasingly adopting robots to perform various mission operations. The inclusion of robots in teams has drawn consistent attention from scholars in relevant fields such as human-computer interaction (HCI) and human-robot interaction (HRI). Yet, the current literature has not fully addressed issues regarding teamwork by mainly focusing on the collaboration between a single robot and an individual. The limited scope of human-robot collaboration in the existing research hinders uncovering the mechanism of performance gains in teams that involve multiple robots and people. This dissertation research is an effort to address the issue by achieving two goals. First, this dissertation examines the impacts of interaction between human teammates alone and interaction between humans and robots on outcomes in teams working with robots. Second, I provide insight into the development of teams working with robots by examining ways to promote a team member’s intention to work with robots. In this dissertation, I conducted three studies in an endeavor to accomplish the aforementioned goals. The first study, in Chapter 2, turns to theory trust in teams to explain outcome gains in teams working with robots. This study reports result from a lab experiment, in which two people fulfilled a collaborative task using two robots. The results show that trust in robots and trust in teammates can be enhanced by a robot-building activity and team identification, respectively. The enhanced trust revealed unique impacts on different team outcomes: trust in robots increased only team performance while trust in teammates increased only satisfaction. Theoretical and practical contributions of the findings are discussed in the chapter. The second study, in Chapter 3, uncovers how team member’s efficacy beliefs interplay with team diversity to promote performance in teams working with robots. Results from a lab experiment reveal that individual operator’s performance is enhanced by team potency perception only when the team is ethnically diverse. This study contributes to theory by identifying team diversity as a limiting condition of performance gains for robot operators in teams. The third study, in Chapter 4, focuses on factors leading to the development of teams working with robots. I conducted an online experiment to examine how surface-level and deep-level similarity contribute to trust in a robotic partner and the impact of the trust on a team member’s intention to work with the robot in varying degrees of danger. This study generally shows that the possibility of danger regulates not only the positive link between the surface-level similarity and trust in robot and but also the link between intention to work with the robot and intention to replace a human teammate with the robot. Chapter 5, as a concluding chapter of this dissertation, discusses the theoretical and practical implications drawn from the three studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
2017
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(2017): Real‐time gesture–based communication using possibility theory–based hidden Markov model. In: Computational Intelligence 33 (4), S. 843-862. DOI: 10.1111/coin.12116
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/coin.12116 Abstract: Exploring correct patterns from low‐frequency time‐series data is challenging. For resolving this problem, the concept of possibility theory–based hidden Markov model (PTBHMM) has been proposed. In this article, all three fundamental problems (evaluation, decoding, and learning) of conventional HMM have been addressed using possibility theory. For handling uncertainty, we have used an axiomatic approach of possibility theory proposed by Zadeh. The time complexity of existing solutions of HMM (forward, backward, Viterbi, and Baum Welch) and proposed possibility‐based solutions has been calculated and compared. From the comparison result, it has been found that PTBHMM has lesser time complexity and hence will be more suitable for real‐time gesture–based communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2017): Task oriented control of a humanoid robot through the implementation of a cognitive architecture. In: Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems 85 (1), S. 3-25. DOI: 10.1007/s10846-016-0383-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-016-0383-7 Abstract: This work presents a novel approach on task oriented control of a humanoid robot through the implementation of a cognitive architecture. The architecture developed here provides humanoid robots with systems that allow them to continuously learn new skills, adapt these skills to new contexts and robustly reproduce new behaviours in dynamical environments. This architecture can be thought of as a first stepping stone upon which to incrementally build more complex cognitive processes, providing this way a minimum degree of intelligence for the humanoid robot. Several experiments are conducted to prove the validity of the system and to test the operation of the architecture. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2017): The human element: Social leveraging of user engagement with assisted living technology. In: Interacting with Computers 29 (3), S. 438-454
Abstract: Research into user engagement with assisted living technology (ALT) has investigated design issues including usability, functionality and aesthetics; looked at user attitude and acceptance research; and examined social factors including the need to create ALT which appropriately supports the relationship between users and service providers. Based on an empirical case study of older persons’ independent living services offered by a large UK housing provider, we propose that there is a further, key dimension of ALT user engagement: social leveraging. We show how user engagement with key ALT including personal pendant alarms, pull cords and intercoms is shaped and supported in important ways by the ongoing social interaction of residents and skilled staff at independent living schemes. We discuss implications of social leveraging for reconsidering the importance of human resource as part of independent living services, during a time of transition to new technological models, and in light of current funding and organizational priorities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2017): User interface based on natural interaction design for seniors. In: Computers in Human Behavior 75, S. 147-159. DOI: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.05.011
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.05.011 Abstract: With world population ageing, how to help seniors to adapt to technology life is an important issue. Technology is becoming life rather than resistance, because many of the technology applications are often accompanied by a lot of information to process. This makes the user interface to become an important bridge between human computer interactions. Especially the inconvenience caused by human ageing, these related issues from the cognitive and operational of products are derived. This study proposes a study of user interface design based on natural interaction to increase seniors’ usage intention. In the proposed contents, the Kinect sensor is used to retrieve seniors’ in-depth information in movements, thus the user interface of system can be operated by the gesture intuitively. In the framework of the system, in the first all, the morphology is applied to identify the features of a hand from depth values obtained from the sensor. Gesture is used to recognize operating behavior of users to implement the interactive action, and collision detection is applied to confirm effectiveness of operation. On the other hand, through interpretive structural model (ISM), each design element of interactive interface can be decomposed and realized, and the solution for target and direction of design problem is also proposed. At the meanwhile, the concept of affordance is conducted to the development of interface for graphic users that proposed in this study, and the design achievement contains operation and usability of intuition can further be acquired. Finally, based on the proposed methodology, an intuitive user interface of digital devices is constructed by Java programming language that allows for verifying the feasibility of user interface for seniors. Besides, the proposed method can be widely used to develop the user interface for various products. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
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Kwon, Sunkyo (2017): Gerontechnology: Research, practice, and principles in the field of technology and aging. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company
Keywords: Bedienung & Handhabung -
(2017) : Designing technology for older adults: Augmenting usefulness and usability via cognitive support In: Kwon, Sunkyo: Gerontechnology: Research, practice, and principles in the field of technology and aging: New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, S. 389-416
Abstract: To fully explore why age discrepancies in technology use have been observed, we describe how older adults conceptualize usefulness and how usability can be empirically measured. Because cognitive changes that co-occur with age can influence technology-related task performance, which in turn may either augment or reduce perceived usefulness and usability, we also discuss the importance of designing technology to provide cognitive and environmental support. Such supportive design is key in developing technology that older adults want to use, which furthers understanding of how age-related cognitive changes should be considered during the technology design process. Furthermore, this approach identifies research questions that should benefit from further empirical investigation. We focus on what is known about three predictor variables (i.e., usefulness, usability, and cognition) that deserve special consideration when designing technology for older adults’ use. To accomplish this goal, three approaches with examples are described in this chapter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2017): Gesundheits-Roboter für Senior/innen: neue Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien in der alternden Gesellschaft. Online verfügbar unter https://www.db-thueringen.de/receive/dbt_mods_00031723, zuletzt geprüft am 11.11.2019
Abstract: Die Dissertation nimmt die Vision einer roboterunterstützten Gesundheits-Assistenz älterer Menschen hinsichtlich der Gesundheitskommunikation in den Blick. Dazu wurde eine Roboter-Plattform durch Senior/innen im Rahmen einer Fallstudie in mehrtägigen Feldtests evaluiert. Zur weiteren Konkretisierung der Vision wurde ermittelt, wie sich ein Gesundheits-Roboter langfristig in Alltag und Tageslaufstrukturen älterer Menschen einfügen sollte. Die so entwickelten Personas wurden mittels Szenario-Technik zu drei normativen, narrativen Nutzungs-Szenarien verknüpft und abschließend durch Fachleute wie Laien diskutiert. Im Ergebnis konnten überindividuelle Anknüpfungspunkte zur bedarfsgerechten Gestaltung und Integration in Tagesverläufe identifiziert werden. Es zeigte sich, dass Gesundheits-Roboter mit Chancen für Gesundheit, gesellschaftliche Partizipation, interpersonale Kommunikation und einem konkreten Nutzen für die selbstständige Lebensführung, aber auch mit Risiken verknüpft werden.
Keywords: Bedienung & Handhabung -
(2017): Building Multiversal Semantic Maps for Mobile Robot Operation. In: KNOWLEDGE-BASED SYSTEMS 119, S. 257-272. DOI: 10.1016/j.knosys.2016.12.016
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.knosys.2016.12.016 Abstract: Semantic maps augment metric-topological maps with meta-information, i.e. l semantic knowledge aimed at the planning and execution of high-level robotic tasks. Semantic knowledge typically encodes human-like concepts, like types of objects and rooms, which are connected to sensory data when symbolic representations of percepts from the robot workspace are grounded to those concepts. Such a symbol grounding is usually carried out by algorithms that individually categorize each symbol and provide a crispy outcome – a symbol is either a member of a category or not. Such approach is valid for a variety of tasks, but it fails at: (i) dealing with the uncertainty inherent to the grounding process, and (ii) jointly exploiting the contextual relations among concepts (e.g. microwaves are usually in kitchens). This work provides a solution for probabilistic symbol grounding that overcomes these limitations. Concretely, we rely on Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) to model and exploit contextual relations, and to provide measurements about the uncertainty coming from the possible groundings in the form of beliefs (e.g. an object can be categorized (grounded) as a microwave or as a nightstand with beliefs 0.6 and 0.4, respectively). Our solution is integrated into a novel semantic map representation called Multiversal Semantic Map (MvSmap), which keeps the sets of different groundings, or universes, as instances of ontologies annotated with the obtained beliefs for their posterior exploitation. The suitability of our proposal has been proven with the Robot@Home dataset, a repository that contains challenging multi-modal sensory information gathered by a mobile robot in home environments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
2016
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(2016): Modular robotic systems: Characteristics and applications. In: Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems 81 (3-4), S. 317-357. DOI: 10.1007/s10846-015-0237-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-015-0237-8 Abstract: Employing Modular Robotic Systems (MRS) in different application domains confronts a large number of challenging problems in design, optimization, and planning, and so identifying characteristics of such problems is an important step toward finding proper solution approaches for them. In this paper, we address this issue and provide a comprehensive study on MRS through a structured survey about MRS characteristics and their applications. A novel framework called MITE is proposed to characterize both the properties and applications of MRS from four perspectives of Module, Information, Task, and Environment, based on more than 120 domain-specific features, supplemented by a mapping scheme for describing the interrelations of the four basic aspects of the Task component, namely, Application (for describing high-level tasks such as navigation and rescue), Behavior (for referring to constitutive behaviors like locomotion and manipulation which bring about Applications), Goal (for characterizing the way Behaviors are accomplished), and Operation (for designating activities specific to modular robots, such as self-reconfiguration and gait control). Also, by providing a methodical review on modular robotics, the paper deals with some analyses on recent trends, research gaps and challenges, as well as open problems in the field of MRS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2016): A comparison of head pose and deictic pointing interaction methods for smart environments. In: International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 32 (4), S. 325-351. DOI: 10.1080/10447318.2016.1142054
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2016.1142054 Abstract: Pointing is one of the more meaningful gestures in human expression. In this article, deictic and head pose pointing methods are evaluated as interaction means, with the objective of comparing their efficiency and delivered comfort, usability, and user experience to apply them to the deployment of services in smart spaces. Standard tools and questionnaires are applied in a user study with 20 individuals who have tried a Kinect V2-enabled pointing system to a) complete a multidirectional International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9241-9 pointing task and b) test a service to command smart objects. The results show that both deictic and head pose interaction perform in a similar way, providing a throughput of 2.14 and 2.04 bits/s, respectively (comparable to joysticks or touchpads in equivalent ISO tasks). The system being quite robust to the user position in the Kinect coverage area, target size influences performance, but also learnability and the overall response when cursor visual cues are not available. From comfort, usability, and user experience responses, it can be said that deictic is perceived to perform better than head pose in terms of accuracy, efficiency, and organization, although head pose is preferred for its speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2016): Iconic gestures for robot avatars, recognition and integration with speech. In: Frontiers in psychology 7
Abstract: Co-verbal gestures are an important part of human communication, improving its efficiency and efficacy for information conveyance. One possible means by which such multi-modal communication might be realized remotely is through the use of a tele-operated humanoid robot avatar. Such avatars have been previously shown to enhance social presence and operator salience. We present a motion tracking based tele-operation system for the NAO robot platform that allows direct transmission of speech and gestures produced by the operator. To assess the capabilities of this system for transmitting multi-modal communication, we have conducted a user study that investigated if robot-produced iconic gestures are comprehensible, and are integrated with speech. Robot performed gesture outcomes were compared directly to those for gestures produced by a human actor, using a within participant experimental design. We show that iconic gestures produced by a tele-operated robot are understood by participants when presented alone, almost as well as when produced by a human. More importantly, we show that gestures are integrated with speech when presented as part of a multi-modal communication equally well for human and robot performances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2016): Usability and acceptability assessment of an empathic virtual agent to prevent major depression. In: Expert Systems: International Journal of Knowledge Engineering and Neural Networks 33 (4), S. 297-312. DOI: 10.1111/exsy.12151
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/exsy.12151 Abstract: In Human–Computer Interaction, the adaptation of the content and the way of how this content is communicated to the users in interactive sessions is a critical issue to promote the acceptability and usability of any computational system. We present a user‐adapted interactive platform to identify and provide an early intervention for symptoms of depression and suicide. In particular, we describe the work performed to assess users’ system acceptability and usability. An empathic Virtual Agent is the main interface with the user, and it has been designed to generate the appropriate dialogues and emotions during the interactions according to the detected user’s specific needs. This personalization is based on a dynamic user model nurtured with clinical, demographical and behavioural information. The evaluation was performed with 60 participants from the university community. The obtained results were promising, allowing the execution of a further clinical trial. The system’s usability score was 75.7%, and the score of the user‐adapted content and the emotional responses of the Virtual Agent was 70.9%. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2016): Towards assessing the human trajectory planning horizon. In: PLoS one 11 (12)
Abstract: Mobile robots are envisioned to cooperate closely with humans and to integrate seamlessly into a shared environment. For locomotion, these environments resemble traversable areas which are shared between multiple agents like humans and robots. The seamless integration of mobile robots into these environments requires accurate predictions of human locomotion. This work considers optimal control and model predictive control approaches for accurate trajectory prediction and proposes to integrate aspects of human behavior to improve their performance. Recently developed models are not able to reproduce accurately trajectories that result from sudden avoidance maneuvers. Particularly, the human locomotion behavior when handling disturbances from other agents poses a problem. The goal of this work is to investigate whether humans alter their trajectory planning horizon, in order to resolve abruptly emerging collision situations. By modeling humans as model predictive controllers, the influence of the planning horizon is investigated in simulations. Based on these results, an experiment is designed to identify, whether humans initiate a change in their locomotion planning behavior while moving in a complex environment. The results support the hypothesis, that humans employ a shorter planning horizon to avoid collisions that are triggered by unexpected disturbances. Observations presented in this work are expected to further improve the generalizability and accuracy of prediction methods based on dynamic models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)
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(2016): Hobbit, a care robot supporting independent living at home: First prototype and lessons learned. In: Robotics and Autonomous Systems 75, S. 60-78. DOI: 10.1016/j.robot.2014.09.029
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.robot.2014.09.029 Abstract: One option to address the challenge of demographic transition is to build robots that enable aging in place. Falling has been identified as the most relevant factor to cause a move to a care facility. The Hobbit project combines research from robotics, gerontology, and human–robot interaction to develop a care robot which is capable of fall prevention and detection as well as emergency detection and handling. Moreover, to enable daily interaction with the robot, other functions are added, such as bringing objects, offering reminders, and entertainment. The interaction with the user is based on a multimodal user interface including automatic speech recognition, text-to-speech, gesture recognition, and a graphical touch-based user interface. We performed controlled laboratory user studies with a total of 49 participants (aged 70 plus) in three EU countries (Austria, Greece, and Sweden). The collected user responses on perceived usability, acceptance, and affordability of the robot demonstrate a positive reception of the robot from its target user group. This article describes the principles and system components for navigation and manipulation in domestic environments, the interaction paradigm and its implementation in a multimodal user interface, the core robot tasks, as well as the results from the user studies, which are also reflected in terms of lessons we learned and we believe are useful to fellow researchers.