Impressions of Size-Changing in a Companion Robot

Abstract

Physiological data such as head movements can be used to intuitively control a companion robot to perform useful tasks. We believe that some tasks such as reaching for high objects or getting out of a person's way could be accomplished via size changes, but such motions should not seem threatening or bothersome. To gain insight into how size changes are perceived, the Think Aloud Method was used to gather typical impressions of a new robotic prototype which can expand in height or width based on a user's head movements. The results indicate promise for such systems, also highlighting some potential pitfalls. 2 RELATED WORK This work touches on three areas-physiologydriven robotic interfaces, size-changing artifacts and perception of size-changing cues. 2.1 Physiological Interfaces Fairclough et al. described various forms of physiological computing-mouse and keyboard, body tracking, muscle or gaze, and Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI) (2011)-which have also been used 118 Cooney M. and M. Karlsson S.. Impressions of Size-Changing in a Companion Robot.