LSInvaders was born from the willingness to explore the collaboration between human and robots. We have developed a project with the aim of unifying different types of interactions in a cooperative environment. The project is inspired by the arcade game Space Invaders. The difference between Space Invaders and LSInvaders is that the user receives the help of a physical robot with artificial intelligence to get over the level. Although the system itself is a basic game, and it seems like it would make no difference whether the robot is embodied or a typical AI virtual agent its participation as a real element improves the gameplay. I. INTERACTION AND GAMEPLAYThere are two crafts, one is controlled by the user and the other is the robot. The aim of the game is to destroy the invaders before the user runs out of lifes. The user drives the craft with the Kinect device through corporal gestures. The player can also shoot and protect himself. The other craft is the LSMaker robot, a robot developed by La Salle Engineering School. LSMaker is a programmable robot with two motors and four wheels, an accelerometer, an USB connection and a wireless controller. We use a blue pattern to make the tracking with digital image processing. Using a webcam, we capture images of the robot. By this way, we know the position of the robot and we can project the spacecraft on it. We have endowed the robot with a specific behavior that helps the user to win the game in a collaborative way. The robot protects the user in extreme situations by approaching him and shooting the invaders. Thus, the user is aware that the robot is adapting its behavior to help him, so they work together. On the other hand, the robot detects when it is in danger and escapes from the bullets of the invaders. With this interaction the way of playing has changed. The system itself is a basic game, and it seems like it would make no difference whether the robot is embodied or a typical AI virtual agent, but we have learned from this particular interaction that the game becomes truer with the help of a real element. The robot participates as one more player, joining the virtual and the real world making the experience even more real. This collaborative interaction has been developed in areas beyond entertainment. The way the robot acts, without being controlled, acting by himself and helping the user to make a task has been (and will be) useful in many other contexts. The project we have developed is another little demonstration of possible applications in which autonomous robots co-work in a collaborative way with humans, sharing their workspace, tools, and assisting them as capable partners in where physical elements get merged with the virtual world. Fig. 1. Caption of the robot with the blue pattern and the projection of the player's craft and the invaders.978-1-4673-3101-2/13/$31.00
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