Invited speakers

Praminda Caleb-Solly, University of Nottingham (UK)
Talk title: Trialling Telepresence Robots in Extra Care and Cultural Settings – Social, Logistic and Technical Challenges and Opportunities
Abstract: This talk will draw on recent projects where telepresence robots were used to tackle social isolation and lack of physical activity. The aim was to use telepresence robots to develop solutions that provide more inclusive and accessible means for social interaction and engagement, addressing issues such as limited social care support and resources, poor economic circumstance, and lack of confidence in the use of digital technologies.
Praminda will share the findings from this research which has led to a deeper understanding of the social, logistic and technical challenges and opportunities for real-world deployment, informing requirements for a scalable framework.

Andreas Kolling, Amazon Robotics (US)
Talk title: Human-Robot Interaction with Large-Scale Autonomous Systems in Industry
Abstract: Amazon is a pioneer in robotics and has built the largest worldwide fleet of robots, with more than half a million robots in continuous operation. Autonomous systems have become a reality in our facilities around the globe. Scientists and engineers continue to work on scaling our systems and adding new types of robots. With that new reality come a host of questions around the purpose of autonomy and how to safely and efficiently design robots that interact with millions of people. We will showcase some of the systems we built and discuss the context in which our robots operate. From there we will explore how these connect to research on how to model, study, and implement interactions for systems that are trusted by millions of people.

Raquel Ros, PAL Robotics (ES)
Talk title: Applications of social robots in the real-world: a battle between users’ expectations and technology developers
Abstract: In this talk, I will walk through a few applications we have been working on with the aim of introducing social robots into real-life scenarios. I will highlight the challenges we have faced when transitioning from lab-based setups to real-world environments, how we have addressed some of the technical difficulties, and discuss how we can face new opportunities to avoid repeating past mistakes.

Silvia Rossi, University of Naples (IT)
Talk title: Human and Context Awareness: Towards Socially Enhanced Autonomous Capabilities
Abstract: Social robots are typically pictured as machines able to interact with people in order to properly cooperate and assist. Nevertheless, a robot’s tasks may not necessarily require social interaction with people. For example, a home companion robot assisting an older person in her own home will socially interact with the person to provide assistance, but might also have other tasks, such as monitoring her state. Any action and behavior of a robot, whether in an interactive or non-interactive situation, should always be perceived as socially acceptable by human users or other non-users inhabiting the same environment. In this talk, we will discuss the role of designing socially acceptable behaviors. The concept of a possible trade-off between the robot’s performance in accomplishing its goals and the consideration of the social environments, in terms of humans’ safety, but also of acceptability, legibility and transparency, and trust will play a central role for the mature development of service and personal robots and deployment in various markets.

Gabriel Skantze, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (SE)
Talk title: Building common ground in human-robot interaction
Abstract: When we initiate a dialogue as humans, we do not start with a blank slate, but we assume some common ground between the interlocutors. During the interaction, we further build this common ground, and we provide feedback to ensure mutual understanding. In this talk, I will discuss the importance of common ground in human-computer and human-robot dialogue. I will use our recent work on building an adaptive robot presenter as an example of what different components are needed for a system that can support the building of common ground between robots and humans.

Adriana Tapus, ENSTA Paris Institut Polytechnique de Paris (FR)
Talk title: Socially Acceptable Robots with Humor and Personalizable Behaviors
Abstract: Social robots are more and more part of our daily lives, and the design of their behaviors greatly affects the way people interact with them. To ensure optimal engagement, long-term adaptation and personalized robot’s behavior to the user’s specific needs and profile should be envisaged, and one important social construct to consider is humor. Humor has been shown to reduce communication barriers and enhance interpersonal relationships. Developing a robot with the ability to express various forms of humor can enhance its naturalness and effectiveness in human-robot interactions. This presentation will explore innovative perception and interaction capabilities and address the challenges raised by inter-individual differences and intra-individual variability over time.

Claude Toussaint, Navel Robotics (DE)
Talk title: How to make robots social and engaging. Perspective of an interaction designer and entrepreneur
Abstract: By definition, robots should be functionally useful. The fact that their presence is perceived as pleasant is not required by definition. Making robots socially acceptable is an attempt to at least not make them seem unpleasant. According to customer satisfaction models, this corresponds to a basic feature that can eliminate dissatisfaction but not generate customer satisfaction.
For social robots, however, the goal is not primarily functional utility, but social utility. But how can robots be designed so that their presence is perceived as pleasant and profitable in itself? That their presence is a motivating factor according to the satisfaction model? What must and what can be designed and where is there a right and wrong?
In the lecture aspects and criteria of the classical product and interaction design are addressed as well as new approaches going beyond it, over which not only acceptance, but also social nearness is to be stimulated.