Humanoid robot avatars: An 'in the wild' usability study

Bremner, Paul; Koschate, Miriam; Levine, Mark

Abstract

In this paper, we report a breaching study to explore the use of a tele-operated humanoid avatar from both the perspective of the robot operator and the perspective of interlocutors. Humanoid robot avatars provide capabilities that video conferencing and mobile remote presence devices lack, particularly in multi-party conversations. Specifically, we were interested whether new users encountering a tele-operated humanoid avatar in a public setting would spontaneously use head movements and arm gestures to allow better conversational flow and group interaction. Video data shows that both operators and interlocutors initially explore the system's capabilities. Most operators used social gestures such as waving and pointing, as well as gaze which in turn led to related social responses from interlocutors. Interview data additionally show that robot operators and interlocutors rated the experience very positively. This paper discusses the implications of our findings for the design of 'in the wild' experiments and the usability of tele-operated humanoid avatars.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (Published)
• Conference Name: 25th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2016
• Start Date: Aug 26, 2016
• End Date: Aug 31, 2016
• Publication Date: Nov 15, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jan 25, 2024
• Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Pages: 624-629
• Book Title: 2016 25th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)
• ISBN: 9781509039302
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/ROMAN.2016.7745183
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11628077