Gaze detection as a social cue to initiate natural human-robot collaboration in an assembly task.

Autor:	Lavit Nicora M; Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing, National Research Council of Italy, Lecco, Italy.; Industrial Engineering Department, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy., Prajod P; Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany., Mondellini M; Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing, National Research Council of Italy, Lecco, Italy.; Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Psychology Department, Milan, Italy., Tauro G; Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing, National Research Council of Italy, Lecco, Italy.; Industrial Engineering Department, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy., Vertechy R; Industrial Engineering Department, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy., André E; Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany., Malosio M; Institute of Intelligent Industrial Technologies and Systems for Advanced Manufacturing, National Research Council of Italy, Lecco, Italy.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Frontiers in robotics and AI [Front Robot AI] 2024 Jul 17; Vol. 11, pp. 1394379. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 17 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI:	10.3389/frobt.2024.1394379
Abstrakt:	Introduction: In this work we explore a potential approach to improve human-robot collaboration experience by adapting cobot behavior based on natural cues from the operator. Methods: Inspired by the literature on human-human interactions, we conducted a wizard-of-oz study to examine whether a gaze towards the cobot can serve as a trigger for initiating joint activities in collaborative sessions. In this study, 37 participants engaged in an assembly task while their gaze behavior was analyzed. We employed a gaze-based attention recognition model to identify when the participants look at the cobot. Results: Our results indicate that in most cases (83.74%), the joint activity is preceded by a gaze towards the cobot. Furthermore, during the entire assembly cycle, the participants tend to look at the cobot mostly around the time of the joint activity. Given the above results, a fully integrated system triggering joint action only when the gaze is directed towards the cobot was piloted with 10 volunteers, of which one characterized by high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder. Even though they had never interacted with the robot and did not know about the gaze-based triggering system, most of them successfully collaborated with the cobot and reported a smooth and natural interaction experience. Discussion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the natural gaze behavior of participants working on a joint activity with a robot during a collaborative assembly task and to attempt the full integration of an automated gaze-based triggering system. Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. (Copyright © 2024 Lavit Nicora, Prajod, Mondellini, Tauro, Vertechy, André and Malosio.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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