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DESIGNING ROBOT APPLICATIONS
FOR EVERYDAY USE
INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP
VIKTORIA INSTITUTE, GÖTEBORG, SWEDEN
JANUARY 13-14, 2005
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THANKS everyone who contributed with
presentations,
brainstorm activites and demos to this successful event!
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PUBLICATION ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Sara Ljungblad presented results from the Robot Workshop at
the SoC-EUSAI 2005
conference in Grenoble, in the special session Everyday robotics : new visions, new
challenges:
Designing Robot
Applications for Everyday Environments
INTRODUCTION
How can robot research inspire
applications for people’s everyday lives and habits? Perhaps our future
butlers will not look like humanoids, but rather be like tiny insects
that cooperate in large numbers to perform complex tasks? Today,
entertainment robots are given characteristics that make them suitable
as pets or to provide comfort. Domestic robots are designed to help
with housekeeping such as vacuum cleaning or lawn mowing, and
professional service robots to support security and health care. Robots
in more basic research are not explicitly
designed to serve humans in social settings. Still, many of these
robots have appealing human-robot and robot-robot interaction
properties (e.g. emergence of behaviours, self-assembly, and sensing
and communication abilities). These characteristics can inspire
entirely novel robot applications for domestic as well as other
everyday settings, such as a schools and workspaces.
The
workshop investigated and explored possible robot applications in
domestic and other everyday environments. Examples of robots that were
presented were domestic and entertainment robots (e.g. Sony’s Aibo, AIST's Paro),
humanoids (Sony’s Qrio),
professional service robots, insect inspired robots and robots on
wheels (like Swarm-Bots
created in a European project).
Several brainstom sessions were held, to inspire novel applications.
Below are some application concepts presented as mockups.
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An entertainment robot in the car could
perhaps be placed on the rear-mirror, and also act as an information
provider?
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A emotional robot could keep people
company at an amusement park, enhancing fearful and enjoyable moments...
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What would you like a robot car
companion in the car to look like?
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Robot-plants on wheels, could distribute
themselves in different positions to accommodate crowds of people in
public spaces...
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WORKSHOP HIGHLIGHTS
The
participants were an interesting mix of robot researchers and
interaction designers, from both industry and academia, all presenting
many different perspectives on robot applications.
Carl DiSalvo from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, introduced
the workshop and presented ethnographic studies of people’s homes, as
an approach to investigate possible robot applications for domestic
environments. Carl stressed that the current view of robots is too
narrow, and based on common assumptions on how robots work. To avoid
this, it is useful to invert assumptions about the interaction, the
material, the purpose and the form of the robot, and to start to think
of robots as products (instead of robots).
All the participant held presentations during the first day, bringing
up different issues and perspectives on robots and robot applications.
Shaun Lawson from Napier University presented a project aiming at
creating future assistance robots, using human-dog interaction as
inspiration. Dogs can be trained to sense and predict for example
epileptic seizures. Perhaps similar abilities can be embodied in the
shape of a robot dog? A related theme is robots as therapy for
cognitive disabilities, which the cuddly robot Paro is an example of,
presented by Allessia Rullo and Allessandro Pollini, University of
Sienna. Only a few participants in the workshop viewded themselves as
mainly robot researchers and Helge Hüttenrauch of the Royal
Institute of Technology, Stockholm, pointed out the problem of bringing
the human-computer interaction perspective into traditional robot
research. Do we need traditional robot researchers, with expert
knowledge in robots, to become developers of everyday applications? If
so, how can this be achieved?
The presentations were followed by several brainstorm sessions, that
continued on the second day of the workshop. In the first brainstorm,
the participants generated basic components of an application within
four different categories; robot type, robot properties, place/activity
and users. In a following brainstorm, components were chosen randomly
from each category, and then combined to an application. This created
many unexpected combinations and often extreme application concepts.
One combination was for example; “toyrobot”, softness-sensor”,
“flea-market”, “drug addicts”. This generated ideas of a cheap and
reusable robot application, which could provide drugs into the body
when squeezed. Other brainstorm activities involved methods to refine
the ideas.
Finally, the participants selected their favourite application concepts
to flesh out and then to build a rough model (of various clay and paper
materials) to show how it would work. One model presented robot-plants
on wheels, that can distribute themselves in different positions to
accommodate crowds of people in public spaces, acting as dynamic
architecture or self-coordinating interior objects. Another model
exemplified how a robot can act as an entertainer companion or provide
useful information, when travelling by car. A third model, was a robot
that would accompany people at an amusement park, to enhance peoples’
thrilling experiences of joy and fear.
Even if the models were not yet realistic as products, the
brainstorming was still successful in exploring and pushing the
boundaries of what a possible robot application can be. We touched upon
many issues crucial for designing successful robot products. For
example, in a discussion about an application concept it was unclear
what the benefit of having a robot application was, instead of some
other computational support. Technology advancements other than
robotics, also raise ideas when exploring interesting everyday
applications. The challenge is to use robot properties as a
complementing design material, and to come beyond stereotyped and
limited views of robots. The workshop also provided insight in that it
is hard to define what a robot is and what it will become. Perhaps a
future robot product, will only partly have robot properties? This
event was our first international experience to explore possible robot
applications, and we look forward to attend and organise similar
activites about robot applications for everyday environments.
- Sara Ljungblad & Lars Erik Holmquist
WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
Antonio
Cisternino, University
of Pisa, Italy [ppt] [Personal
Statement]
Diego
Colombo, University of Pisa, Italy
Marco Combetto,
Microsoft Research, Cambridge
Carl
Disalvo Carnegie
Mellon
University, Pittsburgh, US [ppt]
[Personal
Statement]
Onofrio
Gigliotta, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and
Technologies National
Research Council (ISTC-CNR), Rome, Italy [ppt] [Personal
Statement]
Helge Huettenrauch, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden [ppt]
[Personal
Statement]
Frédéric
Kaplan Sony Computer Science
Laboratory, Paris, France [Personal
Statement]
Romain Laroche, France Telecom Research & Development, France [ppt]
[Personal Statement]
Shaun
Lawson, Napier University, Edinburgh, UK [ppt]
[Personal
Statement]
Rutger Menges, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands [Personal Statement]
Alessandro Pollini,
University of Siena, Italy [ppt] [Personal
Statement]
Alessia Rullo, University of Siena,
Italy
Johan Sandsjö, Hidden Interaction, Sweden [ppt] [Personal Statement]
Lalya Gaye, Viktoria Institute,
Göteborg, Sweden (student-volunteer)
Mattias Jacobsson, Chalmers University, Göteborg (student-volunteer)
Pierre Proske, It-University, Göteborg, Sweden (student-volunteer)
WORKSHOP
COMMITTEE
Luc Steels Sony Computer Science Laboratory,
Paris, France
Frédéric
Kaplan Sony Computer Science
Laboratory, Paris, France
Stefano Nolfi
Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, CNR, Rome, Italy
Carl Disalvo Carnegie
Mellon
University, Pittsburgh, US
Christoph Bartneck Eindhoven
University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands
ORGANIZERS
Lars
Erik
Holmquist, Sara
Ljungblad
Future
Applications Lab
Viktoria
Institute, Sweden
This workshop
is an initiative based on research conducted within the ECAgents
project supported by
IST-FET in the Complex
Systems initiative.
INTRODUCTION (call for papers 2004)
How can robot research inspire
applications for people’s everyday lives and habits? Perhaps our future
butlers will not look like humanoids, but rather be like tiny insects
that cooperate in large numbers to perform complex tasks? Today,
entertainment robots are given characteristics that make them suitable
as pets or to provide comfort, domestic robots are designed to help
with housekeeping such as vacuum cleaning or lawn mowing, and
professional service robots to support security and health care. Robots
in more basic research are not explicitly
designed to serve humans in social settings. Still, many of these
robots have appealing human-robot and robot-robot interaction
properties (e.g. emergence of behaviours, self-assembly, and sensing
and communication abilities). These characteristics can inspire
entirely novel robot applications for domestic as well as other
everyday settings, such as a schools and workspaces.
The
workshop aims to investigate and explore possible robot applications in
domestic and other everyday environments. The specific robots explored
in the workshop can be domestic and entertainment robots (e.g. Sony’s Aibo,
Nec’s PaPeRo),
humanoids (e.g. Honda’s Asimo,
Sony’s Qrio),
professional service robots, insect inspired robots and robots on
wheels (like the so-called Swarm-Bots
created in a European project).
We hope that each participant has an interest in a specific robot, and
that the characteristics of that robot will inspire one or several
applications. The motivation is to invent robot applications that make
it interesting for people to interact with robots on an everyday basis.
We are interested in questions such as: What characteristics of robots
can create new possibilities for everyday interactions with humans?
What novel robot services can be achieved with combining several robots
in an everyday setting, or by combining robots with other media?
We expect all participants to
send a Personal
statement before the 20th
of December. During the workshop participants will hold a brief
presentation to introduce robots used in their own research. We also
encourage participants to bring physical demonstrators
or posters. This
will be used as a basis when brainstorming about possible applications.
To participate, first please
send an expression of interest
(to saral@viktoria.se) as soon as possible. We will then contact you
with full details.
TIMELINE
Expression of interest to saral@viktoria.se:
As soon as possible!
Personal
statement and attendance registration: December 20
Payment
registration:
January 3-7, 2005
Workshop date: January 13-14, 2005
TRAVEL & ACCOMODATION
Travel and accomondation information is found here.
PROGRAMME
THURSDAY, JANUARY 13
9.00-9.30 Welcome, registration
9.30-10.45 Invited speaker - Carl Disalvo, Carnegie Mellon University
10.45 -11.00 Coffee
11.00 - 12.00 Presentations (15 min each) (Frédéric
Kaplan, Rutger Menges, Shawn Lawson)
12.00-13.00 Lunch
13.00-14.00 Short presentations (5 min each) (Antonio Cisterno, Onofrio
Gigliotta, Alessandro Pollini, Johan Sandsjö, Romain
Laroche, Helge Huettenrauch)
14.00-14.10 Intro to brainstorm
14.10-14.50 Category brainstorming: Creating content for different
categories, generating paper notes.
14.50-15.30 Coffee, Posters and demos
(Paro Robot, I-BLOCKS, Lego-robots...)
15.30-16.20 Conceptual brainstorming: Combining categories/paper notes
16.20 -17.00 Presentation (10 min each group) and wrap up.
Each group should present their 3 best ideas
20.00-late: Dinner at RumpanBar, Linnégatan 38
FRIDAY, JANUARY 14
9.00-9.15 Introduction
9.15-10.15 Physical brainstorming, building mock-ups
10.15-10.30 Coffee
10.30-11.00 Physical brainstorming, building mock-ups cont’
11.00-11.10 Introduction “Thinking hats”
11.10-11.40 Thinking hat brainstorming to evaluate ideas
11.40-12.00 Preparation to present the best idea
12.00-13.00 Lunch
13.00-14.00 Presentation of ideas (20 min each), 15 min presentation,
5 min for questions.
14.00-15.00 Summary and future steps
REGISTRATION
December 20:
Last day to send Personal
statement
to Sara Ljungblad
(saral@viktoria.se) to register attendance in the workshop.
January 3-10
Pre-paid
Registration.
It is also possible to do on-site
payment.
Fees:
Regular SEK 800:- (ca. EUR 90)
Academic SEK 650:- (ca. EUR 75)
Student SEK 400:- (ca. EUR 45)
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