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C
Presentation Abstracts
Session 1: Sociocognitive Issues
Yukie Nagai, Osaka University
Title: Robots that learn to communicate with humans
Abstract: How can robots learn to communicate with humans? How can they
acquire the ability to read the intentions of humans? In order to collaborate with
human partners, robots need to understand what the goal of the partner’s action
is. Inspired by studies of developmental psychology and neuroscience, our lab
has been developing robots that learn to communicate with others based on the
mirror neuron system (MNS). The MNS plays a central role in understanding
the goal of the other’s actions and imitating them. We have hypothesized that
the MNS emerges through sensorimotor learning accompanied by perceptual
development; immature perception in the early stages of development enables
robots as well as infants to find the correspondence between the self and other
(an important property of the MNS). My talk will present the results of the ro-
botics experiment to verify this hypothesis and also the results of an additional
experiment, which analyzes the microscopic structure of caregiver-infant inter-
action in order to better understand the developmental mechanism of infants. In
this paper, I emphasize the importance of perceptual and motor immaturity in
leading to further- and better-organized cognitive development.
Alex Morison, Ohio State University
Title: Expanding human perception and attention to new spatial-temporal scales
through networks of sensor systems
Abstract: Ubiquitous sensing capabilities create the potential to expand human
reach to new spatial-temporal scales, but to date the potential is unrealized.
Models of how human perceptual systems function successfully to manage mul-
tiple data streams and directly apprehend the world have inspired new technolo-
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40 INTELLIGENT HUMAN-MACHINE COLLABORATION
gies and visualizations to overcome data overload and release the power of new
human-sensor systems.
Candy Sidner, Worcester Polytechnic University
Title: Agents for long-term relationships with isolated older adults
Abstract: We are exploring the development of virtual agents who "live" in the
homes of socially isolated older adults for extended periods of time. Our agent
reasons about activities that are appropriate to undertake with the adult as its
relationship changes, from stranger to something one might call "companion" in
the course of daily interactions. In this talk, I will discuss the relationship man-
ager that reasons about the relationship and plans activities, and the real-time
collaboration manager, which puts those plans into effect while also reasoning
about time and the time available to complete those plans. I will also discuss
experiments with older adults in their homes, who use prototype agents to help
us discover what the agent can best be doing with adults.
Frank Dignum, Utrecht University
Title: Interaction in context
Abstract: When people interact they use context to both express and interpret the
meaning of the information they want to exchange. Unfortunately, there are
many overlapping contexts that might be active at the same time. Thus, choosing
the right context to generate or interpret a message is a complex but very im-
portant issue for human-machine collaboration, especially for human, agent, and
robot teams.
Session 2: Challenging Applications
Lakmal Seneviratne, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE, and King’s Col-
lege London, UK
Title: Force feedback and haptic interfaces during robot-assisted surgical inter-
ventions
Abstract: In recent years there have been significant advances in robot-assisted
minimally invasive surgical (MIS) procedures. However, although robot-
assisted MIS represents significant improvements over traditional MIS, it does
not provide the surgeon with a sense of touch from the operating interface.
Many robotic surgical applications require active interactions with complex dy-
namic environments such as soft tissue. A fundamental understanding of the
interaction dynamics between the surgical system and the environment is an
essential element in intelligent surgeon-robot collaboration. The sensing of
forces at the robot-tissue interface is a very challenging research problem. In this
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APPENDIX C 41
presentation we survey a number of force and stiffness sensors developed for
surgical robotic systems. These include force and stiffness sensors based on fi-
ber-optic and pneumatic technologies. We explore finite element (FE) modeling
of the robot-tissue interface, including inverse FE models for identifying tissue
properties for diagnosis. The use of haptic interfaces at the surgeon-master inter-
face is also investigated.
Rong Xiong, Zhejiang University, China
Title: A study on humanoid robots playing table tennis
Abstract: Over the past twenty years, the research on humanoid robots has rapid-
ly advanced, and various humanoid robots have been developed. They can walk,
run, dance, play Taiji, etc. The ongoing research on humanoids is moving to-
ward complex task performing in different environments, such as providing do-
mestic service in a home environment or collaborating with human beings to
move heavy objects. We take table tennis playing as an entry point to explore
related technologies, because both intelligent interaction and dynamic response,
which are fundamental factors for future service robots, are required but chal-
lenging issues in such a task. We have proposed algorithms for fast visual
recognition and accurate trajectory prediction of a Ping-Pong ball and coordina-
tive motion planning and balance maintenance of the humanoid robot, and we
have developed a real-time field bus to meet the requirements for quick re-
sponse. Now the two 165 cm-tall humanoid robots we developed, “Wu” and
“Kong,” can play table tennis continuously with each other and with amateur
human players. This research topic also provides an interesting point of view for
studies on autonomous cooperative or competitive interaction between robots or
between a human and a robot. For example, how should the robot learn play
motions and play strategies from human players? How should the robot vary its
play motion and strategies depending on its real-time perception?
Session 3: Learning and Adaptation in Dynamic Settings
Michael Freed, SRI International
Title: A virtual assistant for e-mail overload
Abstract: E-mail client software is widely used for personal task management, a
purpose for which it was not designed and is poorly suited. Past attempts to
remedy the problem have focused on adding task management features to the
client user interaction. RADAR uses an alternative approach modeled on a trust-
ed human assistant who reads mail, identifies task-relevant message content, and
helps manage and execute tasks. This talk describes the integration of diverse AI
technologies and presents results from human evaluation studies comparing
RADAR user performance to unaided commercial-off-the-shelf tool users and
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42 INTELLIGENT HUMAN-MACHINE COLLABORATION
users partnered with a human assistant. As machine learning plays a central role
in many system components, we also compare versions of RADAR with and
without learning. Our tests show a clear advantage for learning-enabled RADAR
over all other test conditions.
Satoshi Tadokoro, Tohoku University
Title: The disaster response robot named “Quince” and lessons at the Fukushi-
ma-Daiichi nuclear power plant accident
Abstract: The accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant, caused by the
tsunami on March 11, 2011, resulted in a meltdown of nuclear fuel and in the
hydrogen explosion of nuclear reactor buildings. Several robotic systems were
applied to stabilize the situation there. A disaster response robot, Quince, which
was developed by the presenter's group, was utilized for surveillance of the 2nd
through 5th floors of the nuclear reactor buildings and achieved a certain contri-
bution to their cool shutdown. It was a typical human-machine collaboration
task. Both the researcher and engineer side and the user side learned many
things in order to apply the robotic system to the unknown environment. This
talk introduces an overview of this mission and lessons learned.
Michael Goodrich, Brigham Young University
Title: Autonomy, interaction, and collaboration: A WiSAR perspective
Abstract: Based on discussions at the workshop, an operational definition of
"collaboration" was created. Collaboration is a multi-agent problem that emerg-
es when agents have asymmetric information, asymmetric goals, and asymmet-
ric capabilities. These asymmetries enable agents to share resources to solve a
problem that the agents couldn't solve independently, but these asymmetries also
lead to potential conflicts of interest or points of confusion. This definition of
collaboration sheds light on how a technical search team can use an unmanned
aerial vehicle to support wilderness search and rescue. Technologies developed
to support wilderness search and rescue teams can benefit by supporting the
collaborative nature of the team. Importantly, collaboration can be seen as the
(re)unification of two threads of research that were both present in Sheridan and
Verplank's classic report, which is known for defining levels of autonomy but
split the discussion into research on these levels and research on interaction de-
sign.
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APPENDIX C 43
Session 4: Human-Machine Interaction and Teaming
Holly Yanco, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Title: Human-in-the-loop control of robot systems
Abstract: Robots navigating in difficult and dynamic environments often need
assistance from human operators or supervisors, either in the form of
teleoperation or occasional interventions when the robot cannot handle the cur-
rent situation autonomously. Even in office environments, robots may need to
ask for directions in unknown buildings. In this presentation, I will discuss my
lab's research on the best practices for controlling both individual robots and
groups of robots, in applications ranging from assistive technology to
telepresence to search and rescue. A number of methods for this type of human-
robot interaction (HRI), including large and small multi-touch devices, software-
based operator control units (softOCUs), haptics, and natural language, will be
presented. I will also discuss how we can improve HRI by modeling a user's
current level of trust in a robot system.
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