Designing Robots in the Wild:

In situ PrototypeEvaluation for a Break Management Robot

UX Prototyping

2012198039 IID Jae Yeon Ju

Table of Contents

Introduction

HRI: Society and Technology

Case Study: a Break Management Robot

Design Steps

Findings

Conclusion

Critique

Introduction

HRI: Human-Robot Interaction

Robots need social or cultural aspects to understand behaviors of users or environments.

Society and Technology

Social Factors

Technological

Factors

Affect design and use

Consequences for social organizations, beliefs, and practices

Case Study: a Break Management Robot

Motivation: the need to take regular breaks during the workday for health

Remind people to take a break

Objects:

Identify the right design characteristic for managing break times

Explore the dynamics of HRI in human environments

Design Steps

Context Exploration EmbodimentSocial

Interaction

• Explore/ Research about

taking breaks

• Initial Prototype

• Virtual vs. Physical

Prototypes

• Examine people’s

perception of the robot

and effectiveness

Step 1: Context Exploration

Prototype design: ‘use scenario’ using Arduino

Users prefer creature-like in form, and minimalist design cues

Focus group: users want for small footprint and no noise

Step 2: Embodiment

Validate the need for an embodied robotic technology with social understanding

Virtual Robot vs. Physical Robot

Reports of users:

Preferred Physical Robots

Want more interactivity and personalization

Step 3: Social Interaction

Constructing Robotic Sociality

Two types of design: Simple Alarm vs. Social Behaviors

Simple Alarm Social Behaviors

Self Sufficient

: Not many diversity of

actions/feedbacks from robots

Many Elements

: Need more engagement of users

Step 3: Social Interaction

Simple Alarm Social Behaviors

How to Turn On Tapping Petting

Frequency of Alarm Every 40 minsGets smaller as time

goes by

How to take a breakUse RFID Card

(looks like playcard)

Feed “fruit” to the

robot

Alarming Vibration ConstantDance gets more

vigorous

Findings

Robot Type:

Less people used the Simple Alarm Robot those who used Simple Alarm more tended to ignore the alarms

More people used the Social Behavioral Robot

Work Environment:

Users who work with clients: higher level of ignoring alarms

Users who work without clients: higher level of responding to the alarms

Effects of the Robot’s Social Interactivity

Social Behavior Robots

Naming the robots – treat them as living beings

Personalized – accessorizing with a scarf or sunglasses

Increase social interactions with colleagues

Being out of the office more

Sharing experiences of robots

Conclusion

Lessons:

Generalizable within HRI in other situations/ environments

Increasing availability of physical prototyping platforms- Arduino

Explore various design factors: social and technological elements

Evaluate multiple design alternatives

Critique

Before reading the article, I did not know the difference between computer based

technologies and socially assistive robotics

Learned the importance of social features of robots

Interesting process of design

Various tryouts of prototypes based on each step’s feedback