2024/03/13 by Elaheh Sanoubari, Atıl Işçen, Sanoubari, Elaheh +9
Engineering · Psychology · #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC) #Robotics (cs.RO) #Robotics and Automated Systems #Social Robot Interaction and HRI
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2403.08144
openalex publication_date 2024/03/13 · openalex created_date 2024/03/15 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
In this paper, we investigate the use of 'prosody' (the musical elements of speech) as a communicative signal for intuitive human-robot interaction interfaces. Our approach, rooted in Research through Design (RtD), examines the application of prosody in directing a quadruped robot navigation. We involved ten team members in an experiment to command a robot through an obstacle course using natural interaction. A human operator, serving as the robot's sensory and processing proxy, translated human communication into a basic set of navigation commands, effectively simulating an intuitive interface. During our analysis of interaction videos, when lexical and visual cues proved insufficient for accurate command interpretation, we turned to non-verbal auditory cues. Qualitative evidence suggests that participants intuitively relied on prosody to control robot navigation. We highlight specific distinct prosodic constructs that emerged from this preliminary exploration and discuss their pragmatic functions. This work contributes a discussion on the broader potential of prosody as a multifunctional communicative signal for designing future intuitive robotic interfaces, enabling lifelong learning and personalization in human-robot interaction.