Research Seminar by Ray LC | In Autonomy We Trust: Building Trustworthy Autonomous Systems for a Safer Future

"More Than Just An Object": 
How Machine Movements Communicate Intent and Agency

As machines become a greater part of our physical and mental spheres, they become imbued with properties that we humans demand of them. Robots have the unique position of being capable of perceived human-like gestures while maintaining the identity of inanimate machines. Whether as service robotic arms providing beverages in a mall, or as drones serving as props for dance practice, machines become part of our social environment because they can be more than a physical entity, but rather communicate through our perception of their animate movements. This talk describes work in HRI and HCI investigating how human perception of machine movements can be exploited for design and expression of intent from machines, and create contextual metaphors for shaping human actions circumscribed by these movements. The results from various paradigms show the way humans can adapt to contexts with perceived human-like machine agents that imbue these physical environments with agency and character. 

Main project references: 

• HRI'24 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3610977.3634959 
• CHI'24 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642345