Plenary talks: Touching

Abstract

The common area of interest to attendees at this conference is physical interaction. Haptic and robotic technologies are beginning to merge into one discipline. Touching is the central theme that draws these disciplines together. Whether we are designing a surgical simulation to feel realistic or building a robot to cooperatively carry a load, we must make explicit choices about their mechanical behaviors. In part, this presentation will share our experiences and lessons learned in creating number of haptic and force controllable robotic systems. We will discuss measures of performance and mechanical means for maximizing them. As haptically capable robots engage in more complex and sophisticated physical interactions with humans (HRI) we must consider how the robot's mechanical characteristics affect cooperative task performance as well as the affective effects when humans touch or are touched by a robot. I find fascinating the dual meanings of touch and feel; both have physical and emotional interpretations and are inextricably linked in our language. The study of the emotional aspects of physical interactions between humans and robots is an area that warrants study. I will briefly discuss our own study of encoding and communicating emotional states through handshaking with a robot. My taxonomy of physical interaction between a human and a robot has three levels of abstraction: 1) touching and being touched, 2) taking and giving and 3) leading and being led. At each level bi-directional energy exchanges occur. Behaviors during these interactions impact task outcomes as well as have emotional impact on the humans they touch. Robot characteristics such as impedance, frequency content, fidelity, and more have impact on quality of human/robot physical cooperation and the ensuing affective interpretations. In closing I will discuss our work on wearable robotics. Rather than addressing strength and rehabilitation, our study addresses interactivity, communication, emotional and cognitive issues that arise when a robot becomes part of our self.