(A) Shared Ground Model of Human-Robot Interaction and Its Application for Measuring Interactivity

Abstract

In Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), shared ground is a critical issue in terms of how they understand each other and what makes them share grounds to communicate. This thesis conceptualizes HRI such that a 3-way relationship among the human, robot and environment can be established on the basis of shared ground. Various interactive patterns that may occur are also analyzed on the basis of shared ground. Within this model, it is attempted to explain the mechanism of human-robot interaction. The proposed interaction model sheds light on how uncertainty caused by lack of knowledge may be resolved and how shared ground can be established through interaction. Furthermore, measures are developed to evaluate the interaction process in terms of Interaction Effort and Interaction Situation Awareness (SA). The concept of entropy and Markov chain is used in development of the measures. These measures are expected to reduce the problem of subjective scoring in the empirical evaluation of HRI. With the aforementioned theoretical framework and measures, various experiments are carried out in Human-Human Interaction (HHI) and HRI. In the experiment of HRI, a human subject interacts with a virtual robot through the mediate interface ‘Handybot’ that is developed in order to help users interact with the robot easily in a continuous manner. The results of the experiments show the feasibility of the proposed model and the usefulness of the measures. It is expected that the presented model and measures will serve to increase understanding of human-robot interaction, and may be useful in classifying, describing and predicting this interaction process.