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’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’s design activity, and we argue that the robot’s social character is intrinsically related to the subtleties of human interactional moves in laboratories of social robotics. This human involvement in the robot’s social agency is not simply controlled by individual will. Instead, the human–machine couplings are demanded by the situational dynamics in which the robot is lodged.
%B Social Studies of Science %V 41 %P 893-926 %8 12/2011 %G eng %N 6 %& 893 %0 Conference Paper %B The 17th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2008. RO-MAN 2008 %D 2008 %T A barebones communicative robot based on social contingency and Infomax Control %A Tanaka, F. %A Movellan, J. %K Actuators %K barebones communicative robot %K Communication system control %K Delay %K Detectors %K Human robot interaction %K human-model updating capability %K humanoid robots %K Hydrogen %K Infomax control %K man-machine systems %K Pediatrics %K policy improvement %K Robot control %K Robot sensing systems %K Scheduling %K social contingency %XIn 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.
%B The 17th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2008. RO-MAN 2008 %I IEEE %C Munich %8 08/2008 %@ 978-1-4244-2212-8 %G eng %M 10174337 %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the 2nd ACM/IEEE International Conference of Human-Robot Interaction %D 2007 %T The RUBI Project: A Progress Report %A Tanaka, F. %A Movellan, J. %A Taylor, C. %A Ruvolo, P. %A Eckhardt, M. %B Proceedings of the 2nd ACM/IEEE International Conference of Human-Robot Interaction %G eng %0 Journal Article %J Proceedings of the National Academy of Science %D 2007 %T Socialization between toddlers and robots at an early childhood education center %A Tanaka, F. %A Cicourel, A. %A Movellan, J. %B Proceedings of the National Academy of Science %V 104 %G eng %N 46 %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the 15th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) %D 2006 %T Behavior Analysis of Children’s Touch on a Small Humanoid Robot: Long-term Observation at a Daily Classroom over Three Months %A Tanaka, F. %A Movellan, J. %B Proceedings of the 15th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) %I Hatfield %C United Kingdom %8 09/2006 %G eng %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the 2006 Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) %D 2006 %T Daily HRI evaluation at a classroom environment: Reports from dance interaction experiments %A Tanaka, F. %A Movellan, J. %A Fortenberry, B. %A Aisaka, K. %B Proceedings of the 2006 Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) %C Salt Lake City %G eng %0 Conference Paper %B Fifth International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) %D 2006 %T The RUBI Project: Designing Everyday Robots by Immersion %A Tanaka, F. %A Movellan, J. %B Fifth International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) %C Bloomington, U.S.A %8 06/2006 %G eng %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) %D 2005 %T Developing Dance Interaction between QRIO and Toddlers in a Classroom Environment: Plans for the First Steps %A Tanaka, F. %A Fortenberry, B. %A Aisaka, K. %A Movellan, J. %K Best Paper Award %B Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) %C Nashville, U.S.A. %P 223-228 %8 08/2005 %G eng %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL05) %D 2005 %T Plans for developing real-time dance interaction between qrio and toddlers in a classroom environment %A Tanaka, F. %A Fortenberry, B. %A Aisaka, K. %A Movellan, J. %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL05) %C Osaka, Japan %G eng %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL05) %D 2005 %T The RUBI project: Origins, principles and first steps %A Movellan, J. %A Tanaka, F. %A Fortenberry, B. %A Aisaka, K. %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL05) %C Osaka, Japan %G eng