Social roboticists design their robots to function as social agents in interaction with humans and other robots. Although we do not deny that the robot{\textquoteright}s design features are crucial for attaining this aim, we point to the relevance of spatial organization and coordination between the robot and the humans who interact with it. We recover these interactions through an observational study of a social robotics laboratory and examine them by applying a multimodal interactional analysis to two moments of robotics practice. We describe the vital role of roboticists and of the group of preverbal infants, who are involved in a robot{\textquoteright}s design activity, and we argue that the robot{\textquoteright}s social character is intrinsically related to the subtleties of human interactional moves in laboratories of social robotics. This human involvement in the robot{\textquoteright}s social agency is not simply controlled by individual will. Instead, the human{\textendash}machine couplings are demanded by the situational dynamics in which the robot is lodged.
}, keywords = {body, design, gesture, human{\textendash}robot interaction, laboratory, social agency, social robotics, spatial organization}, issn = {0306-3127, 1460-3659}, author = {Ala{\v c}, M. and Movellan, J. and Tanaka, F.} } @conference {61, title = {A barebones communicative robot based on social contingency and Infomax Control}, booktitle = {The 17th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2008. RO-MAN 2008}, year = {2008}, month = {08/2008}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Munich}, abstract = {In this paper, we present a barebones robot which is capable of interacting with humans based on social contingency. It expands the previous work of a contingency detector into having both human-model updating (developmental capability) and policy improvement (learning capability) based on the framework of Infomax control. The proposed new controller interacts with humans in both active and responsive ways handling the turn-taking between them.
}, keywords = {Actuators, barebones communicative robot, Communication system control, Delay, Detectors, Human robot interaction, human-model updating capability, humanoid robots, Hydrogen, Infomax control, man-machine systems, Pediatrics, policy improvement, Robot control, Robot sensing systems, Scheduling, social contingency}, isbn = {978-1-4244-2212-8}, author = {Tanaka, F. and Movellan, J.} } @proceedings {35, title = {The RUBI Project: A Progress Report}, year = {2007}, author = {Tanaka, F. and Movellan, J. and Taylor, C. and Ruvolo, P. and Eckhardt, M.} } @article {34, title = {Socialization between toddlers and robots at an early childhood education center}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Science}, volume = {104}, year = {2007}, author = {Tanaka, F. and Cicourel, A. and Movellan, J.} } @proceedings {38, title = {Behavior Analysis of Children{\textquoteright}s Touch on a Small Humanoid Robot: Long-term Observation at a Daily Classroom over Three Months}, year = {2006}, month = {09/2006}, publisher = {Hatfield}, address = {United Kingdom}, author = {Tanaka, F. and Movellan, J.} } @proceedings {39, title = {Daily HRI evaluation at a classroom environment: Reports from dance interaction experiments}, year = {2006}, address = {Salt Lake City}, author = {Tanaka, F. and Movellan, J. and Fortenberry, B. and Aisaka, K.} } @conference {37, title = {The RUBI Project: Designing Everyday Robots by Immersion}, booktitle = {Fifth International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL)}, year = {2006}, month = {06/2006}, address = {Bloomington, U.S.A}, author = {Tanaka, F. and Movellan, J.} } @proceedings {43, title = {Developing Dance Interaction between QRIO and Toddlers in a Classroom Environment: Plans for the First Steps}, year = {2005}, month = {08/2005}, pages = {223-228}, address = {Nashville, U.S.A.}, keywords = {Best Paper Award}, author = {Tanaka, F. and Fortenberry, B. and Aisaka, K. and Movellan, J.} } @proceedings {42, title = {Plans for developing real-time dance interaction between qrio and toddlers in a classroom environment}, year = {2005}, address = {Osaka, Japan}, author = {Tanaka, F. and Fortenberry, B. and Aisaka, K. and Movellan, J.} } @proceedings {41, title = {The RUBI project: Origins, principles and first steps}, year = {2005}, address = {Osaka, Japan}, author = {Movellan, J. and Tanaka, F. and Fortenberry, B. and Aisaka, K.} }