ITR/PE: Cognitive and Social Design of Robotic Assistants

不久，自主移动的机器人将被用于老年社区、学校和医院等场所，执行智能但“不熟练”的任务，如送餐或教健美操。人类是这些系统中不可或缺的一部分--作为操作员、用户，以及在机器人工作的地方生活和工作的人。该提案针对人机交互以及个人和工作环境中的机器人助手的关键问题。该研究涉及机器人和机器人助手的心理模型实验，人种学设计研究和组织领域研究。最初的研究旨在设计老年人环境中机器人助手的适当角色，任务和交互。以后的研究将涉及使用辅助机器人的其他领域。这项研究建立在认知和社会心理学以及设计的基础上。该研究将有助于人类与机器人互动的理论，促进人类与机器人助手之间有用和优雅的互动，并推进机器人技术和围绕部署逼真机器人的伦理问题的对话。该研究团队是高度多学科的。该项目将解决NSF的主要问题，包括：为特殊人群带来技术，扩展人类能力，将技术用于集体工作，并将技术融入社会环境。

Soon, autonomous mobile robots will be used in settings such as elderly communities, schools, and hospitals to carry out intelligent but "unskilled" tasks such as delivering food or teaching calisthenics. Humans are integral in these systems-as operators, as users, and as people who live and work where robots are employed. This proposal targets critical questions of human-robot interaction, and of robotic assistants in personal and work settings. The research involves experiments on mental models of robots and robotic assistants, ethnographic design research, and organizational field research. The initial research will aim at design of appropriate roles, tasks, and interactions of robotic assistants in elderly environments. Later research will address other domains for using assistive robots. This research builds on cognitive and social psychology, and design. The research will contribute to theory on people's interactions with robots, facilitate useful and graceful interactions between people and robotic assistants, and advance robotic technology and dialogue on ethical issues surrounding deployment of life-like robots. The research team is highly multidisciplinary. This project will address major NSF concerns including: bringing technology to bear for special populations, extending human capabilities, using technology for collective work, and integrating technology into social contexts.