Final Report for the DARPA/NSF Interdisciplinary Study on Humanâ•fiRobot Interaction

As part of a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/National Science Foundation study on human–robot inter­ action (HRI), over sixty representatives from academia, govern­ ment, and industry participated in an interdisciplinary workshop, which allowed roboticists to interact with psychologists, sociolo­ gists, cognitive scientists, communication experts and human–com­ puter interaction specialists to discuss common interests in the field of HRI, and to establish a dialogue across the disciplines for future collaborations. We include initial work that was done in prepara­ tion for the workshop, links to keynote and other presentations, and a summary of the findings, outcomes, and recommendations that were generated by the participants. Findings of the study in­ clude—the need for more extensive interdisciplinary interaction, identification of basic taxonomies and research issues, social infor­ matics, establishment of a small number of common application domains, and field experience for members of the HRI community. An overall conclusion of the workshop was expressed as the fol­ lowing—HRI is a cross-disciplinary area, which poses barriers to meaningful research, synthesis, and technology transfer. The vo­ cabularies, experiences, methodologies, and metrics of the commu­ nities are sufficiently different that cross-disciplinary research is unlikely to happen without sustained funding and an infrastruc­ ture to establish a new HRI community.