Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan
Online ISSN : 1884-7145
Print ISSN : 0289-1824
ISSN-L : 0289-1824
Paper
How to Approach Humans?
—Strategies for Social Robots to Initiate Interaction—
Satoru SatakeTakayuki KandaDylan F. GlasMichita ImaiHiroshi IshiguroNorihiro Hagita
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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2010 Volume 28 Issue 3 Pages 327-337

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Abstract
This paper proposes a model of approach behavior with which a robot can initiate conversation with people who are walking. We developed the model by learning from the failures in a simplistic approach behavior used in a real shopping mall. Sometimes people were unaware of the robot's presence, even when it spoke to them. Sometimes, people were not sure whether the robot was really trying to start a conversation, and they did not start talking with it even though they displayed interest. To prevent such failures, our model includes the following functions: predicting the walking behavior of people, choosing a target person, planning its approaching path, and nonverbally indicating its intention to initiate a conversation. The approach model was implemented and used in a real shopping mall. The field trial demonstrated that our model significantly improves the robot's performance in initiating conversations.
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© 2010 The Robotics Society of Japan
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