Social robots are poised to have a profound impact on business, society and the global economy. They are a disruptive technology.
A self-driving vehicle is an example of a social robot – not only does it need to drive on the road safely but it must also create enjoyable experiences for humans inside the vehicle.
At the same time, it must communicate with and anticipate nearby cars, pedestrians, city infrastructure, land and space based technologies.
The key to success of any social robot is how well it can engage people around it as it pursues its design goals.
The critical research question is how can we design social robots to enhance the human experience and improve people's lives?
RMIT University in Melbourne will host a special workshop next month to explore how social robots can generate value and create engaging experiences for people in the home, workplace and public spaces.
Gathering of AI researchers
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS), the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and Softbank Robotics have joined forces to organise the workshop as part of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI).
IJCAI is the main international gathering of researchers in AI.
The 26th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence will be held in Melbourne from August 19-25.
At the RMIT workshop, to be held on August 19, AI researchers will explore pervasive computing, social robotics, cognitive science, software engineering, law, AI planning and knowledge representation.
In addition to presented papers the Workshop will involve a practical Design Thinking session and discussion and debate on the applications and implications of social robotics.
Topics include:
- Human-robot interaction and collaboration
- Social intelligence for proactive autonomous robots
- Law abiding autonomous robots
- Engagement and disengagement in HRI
- Human attention, proactive decision making and behaviour
- Autonomy, learning and intelligence
- Joint attention and emotional connection
- Social robots in an Internet of Things ecosystem
- Privacy and security for Social Robotics
- Legal and ethical implications of social robots
Speakers include Professor Holly Yanco, Founder of the Robotics Lab; Director New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation (NERVE), University of Massachusetts Lowell, US and Dr Amit K Pandey, Head Principal Scientist (Chief Scientist); Scientific Coordinator – Collaborative Projects, SoftBank Robotics, Paris, France
The workshop program is now available.
For registration and further information visit the IJCAI website.
