2023/12/11 by Pooja Prajod, Matteo Lavit Nicora, Prajod, Pooja +11
Computer Science · Engineering · Psychology · #Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI) #Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Gaze Tracking and Assistive Technology #Human-Automation Interaction and Safety #Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC) #Robot Manipulation and Learning #Robotics (cs.RO)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2312.06643
openalex publication_date 2023/12/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Collaborative robots (cobots) are widely used in industrial applications, yet extensive research is still needed to enhance human-robot collaborations and operator experience. A potential approach to improve the collaboration experience involves adapting cobot behavior based on natural cues from the operator. Inspired by the literature on human-human interactions, we conducted a wizard-of-oz study to examine whether a gaze towards the cobot can serve as a trigger for initiating joint activities in collaborative sessions. In this study, 37 participants engaged in an assembly task while their gaze behavior was analyzed. We employ a gaze-based attention recognition model to identify when the participants look at the cobot. Our results indicate that in most cases (84.88%), the joint activity is preceded by a gaze towards the cobot. Furthermore, during the entire assembly cycle, the participants tend to look at the cobot around the time of the joint activity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the natural gaze behavior of participants working on a joint activity with a robot during a collaborative assembly task.