Abstract:
With the deployment of more robots, human-robot interaction will no longer be limited to a one-to-one interaction between a user and a robot. Instead, users will likely have to interact with multiple robots, simultaneously or sequentially, throughout their day to receive services and complete different tasks. In this thesis proposal, I am proposing joint work with my colleagues to extend our knowledge in this broad area by focusing on how the transfer of the user between multiple service robots should be designed, implemented, and modelled. We use a combination of design, behavioral, and technical methods to understand the challenges and nuances in the implementation of transfers. This proposal describes five planned or completed threads of research: (1) A collection of Research Through Design studies to chart out the space of transfers and the needs of users; (2) An in-lab behavioral study to understand how people perceive social interaction between robots and the flow of information in a transfer scenario; (3) A formulation that operationalizes human transfer between service robots and that can be used to reason about how and when to conduct the transfer; (4) A planned deployment study to collect in-the-field data on transfers in the real world; and (5) Use of the in-the-field data to model human spatial formation with robots during transfer. We expect this work to inform developers and designers about appropriate robot behaviors when a human is being transferred from interacting with one robot to another.

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Thesis Committee Members:
Aaron Steinfeld, Chair
Reid Simmons
Jodi Forlizzi
Selma Šabanović, Indiana University, Bloomington