MeBot: A robotic platform for socially embodied telepresence

Abstract

Telepresence refers to a set of technologies that allow users to feel present at a distant location, telerobotics is a subfield of telepresence. Much work has been done in telerobotics through the years to provide safer working environments for people or to reach locations that would otherwise be inaccessible. More recently telerobots have been developed for communication purposes but as of yet they have not accommodated for other channels of communication than audio or video. The design and evaluation of a telepresence robot that allows for social expression is the content of this thesis. Our claim is that a telerobot that communicates more than simply audio or video but also expressive gestures, body language or pose and proxemics will allow for a more engaging and enjoyable interaction. An iterative design process of the MeBot platform is described in detail as well as the design of supporting systems and various control interfaces. A human subject study was conducted where the effects of expressivity were measured. Our results show that a socially expressive robot was found to be more engaging and likable than a static one. It was also found that expressiveness contributes to more psychological involvement and better cooperation.

A Comparison of Avatar-, Video-, and Robot-Mediated Interaction on Users’ Trust in Expertise

“…Second, compared with distributed teams or remote partners, colocated teams have less trouble developing trust, coordinating work, resolving conflict, and engendering high motivation (Hinds and Bailey, 2003). Third, it was also reported that social telepresence was enhanced when the remote person's movement was augmented by a display's physical movement (Adalgeirsson and Breazeal, 2010;Nakanishi et al, 2011;Sirkin, 2012). Finally, in robot-mediated communication, the depth from motion parallax could increase the visibility of body motions.…”

The impact of head movements on user involvement in mediated interaction

“…A related question is the extent to which the media difference will involvement. Recent studies suggest that socially expressive media can significantly and it can be seen to be more engaging and likable than a static one (Adalgeirsson & Breazeal, 2010;Mutlu, Yamaoka, Kanda, Ishiguro, & Hagita, 2009). It is conceivable that the media could have some observable influence on cognitive activity such as interaction involvement.…”

Personality perception of robot avatar tele-operators

“…Previous work on robot avatars has largely focused on their efficacy for interaction (e.g., [5], [13], [4]). However, there are two studies that look directly at personality perception of tele-operators.…”

“…to engagement of conversational partners [4], social presence [5], group interaction [4], and trust [6].…”