WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

W1: Safe Human-Robot Interaction: Sensing, Modeling, and Learning
November 14 and 15 —> 20:20-22:20 GMT

Safe human-robot interaction (HRI) has long been a hot topic in social robotics, which not only covers physical human-robot interaction (pHRI) but also non-contact HRI. The workshop gathers robotics researchers from academia and industry to exchange recent development and trend in safe HRI on different stages of interaction: sensing, modeling, and learning. Confirmed speakers are from a variety of backgrounds: communication, CS, EE, ME, Materials Sciences, etc.
https://sites.google.com/view/icsr2020-shri

W2: Workshop on Creativity and Robotics
November 14 and 15 —> 20:20-22:20 GMT

Creativity is now emerging at the front line of research in the interdisciplinary field of Social Robotics. There are many important lines of investigation within creativity and robotics. Some include designing and developing robots that can integrate and facilitate creativity in humans, solve problems creatively, provide “out of the box” ideas, act curiously, and extend the human potential by achieving tasks that neither the robot nor the human could do alone.

This workshop aims to bring together these lines of investigation and debate existing challenges under the research topic of Creativity and Robotics. The 1st Creativity and Robotics workshop will be a virtual workshop at ICSR 2020. Our goal is to explore the creative potential a robot offers as well as whether society will engage with such robots.
https://creativity-robotics.github.io/

W3: Human Robot Interaction for Space Robotics
November 14 and 15 —> 20:20-22:20 GMT

In future space missions, robots will assist human explorers by working alongside astronauts during crewed missions, working independently during uncrewed periods, and remotely supporting Earth-based mission control. The ICSR Workshop on Human Robot Interaction for Space Robotics will bring together roboticists working in academia, industry, and government to identify the key scientific questions that must be answered to enable effective human-robot interaction (HRI) in space contexts. This workshop seeks to bring together researchers employing diverse methods to enable these capabilities, with a focus on the development of tools and techniques that allow humans to operate effectively with robot teammates, especially HRI methods that enable both astronauts and mission controllers to communicate clearly with robots about their capabilities, intent, state, and accomplishments, and that enable human-robot teams to coordinate and collaborate to solve problems that exceed the autonomous capabilities of robots.
https://sites.google.com/view/hri-sr/

W4: Trustful Interaction with Anthropomorphic Service Robots through Responsible Design: An Interdisciplinary Challenge
November 16 and 17 —> 20:20-22:20 GMT

The rise of service robots has not only become an integral part of our lives but more relevant and necessary than ever. For example, the current COVID-19 pandemic revealed the necessity for human-centered robotic assistants that can interact with and even treat humans in quarantine. Anthropomorphic service robots arise as a suitable and necessary solution for entering everyday challenging environments, like hospitals and nursing houses, for offering relief to humans in need, and assisting them efficiently and safely. However, the extent to which the service provided by the robot is beneficial to humans depends on the responsible design, use, and subsequently the interaction with the service robot.

This interactive online workshop deals with fundamental open problems in human- robot interaction (HRI). We will debate problems like: (a) the psychological impact during design and operation, (b) the definition and learning of natural robot behavior, (c) the bias detection and attack during design and operation, (d) transparent robot behavior and liability, and (d) the legal regulations and implications, offering an interdisciplinary approach to address them. The topics covered by the workshop include:
• acceptance in HRI in service and its impact on liking and intentions,
• the transparent design of physical presence in HRI in services,
• human-robot learning for intelligent service robots for trustworthy robot movements,
• product compliance in the responsible use of service robots with a focus on the regulation of anthropomorphic service robots, the impact of regulations, and
• privacy in the responsible use of service robots with a focus on data subject’s rights and transparency obligations.

This workshop addresses practitioners and researchers from the noted research fields and aims to discuss these challenges by bringing together experts from different disciplines such as law, machine learning, psychology, ethical AI, and robotics. We wish to provide new research directions and synergies between those different research streams, taking one step further towards the ultimate goal of responsible design and the use of service robots for humans.
http://robotrust-tu-darmstadt.de

W5: Building Entertaining Robots
November 14 and 15 —> 20:20-22:20 GMT

Race your robots through a maze and conquer the robot escape room! This workshop brings the entertaining back into the interaction. We also showcase an affordable robot build and a remote robot operation platform. Participants can develop your own custom robots with color, voice, sound, and costume variables. We have several ‘blank robots’ for workshop participants to utilize PLUS we’ll share building guides ahead of time so that participants can build their own robots too.

Why do this workshop?
1. It’s going to be hella fun.
2. You want to explore new experimental platforms.
3. We’re going to explore the concept of entertaining robots with expert speakers.
4. You’re tired of not being the ‘technical’ person.
5. It’s time you got to drive the robots crazy!

No robot building experience required, and you will be an expert robot operator by the end!
http://entertainingrobots.com

W6: Children and Robots: Present and Future Relationships
November 16 —> 20:20-24:20 GMT

Robots will become more pervasive in society, playing different roles from tutors to physical therapy assistants to playmates, to name a few. The relationship between children and robots starts before the actual interaction. Researchers are faced with the question of when to involve children in this process. Children are cognitively immature, and their perspectives on robots are different from adults. How are children’s perceptions, expectations, and perspectives influencing the field, and how is CRI impacting children’s cognitive development?
This half-day workshop aims to bring researchers, practitioners, and pioneers from relevant disciplines to this platform to have in-depth discussions on various aspects of CRI, such as potentials, challenges, and related opportunities to keep children in the loop. In addition, what do experts in the field think about CRI’s future, the impact of growing up with robots, and the effects of this interaction in design and development. This workshop’s primary objective is to establish an interdisciplinary debate and have philosophical discussions about the present and future relationship between children and robots.

Topics of Interest
–Experiments involving children and robots
–Challenges of safe child-robot interaction
–Robot designs for child-robot interactions
–Children’s involvement in design and development.
–Children’s perception of the Robot (measuring, evaluating, and interpreting)
–Children’s taking the robot’s perspective (Spatial, Affective, and Cognitive)
–Future relationships with robots
–Children’s expectations for future interactions
–The impact of robot on children’s cognitive development–Ethical Concerns
https://sites.google.com/view/child-robot-interaction/

W8: Enriching HRI Research with Qualitative Methods
November 16 and 17 —> 20:20-22:20 GMT

As robotic systems become more complex and move into real-world settings, it is increasingly recognized that qualitative approaches to HRI research are important for developing effective robots and understanding their real world impact. Qualitative methods include the use of interviews, focus groups, field studies, and the analysis of case studies, diaries, and ethnographic scenes. Qualitative methods have a lot to offer for the study of Human Robot Interaction, but still appear to be somewhat under-utilised by the research community. This workshop aims to bring together scholars with experience in applying qualitative methods, and those who would like to learn more about how HRI can be enriched by adopting qualitative approaches. The workshop offers an introduction to qualitative methods relevant to HRI, and an overview of methods currently applied by HRI scholars, including mixed-methods approaches. In addition to tips on how to assess and recognize rigorous qualitative research, the workshop will promote best practices and scientific rigour in qualitative research at various stages of the research process such as question conception, study design, and publication. All talks and activities will be grounded in the participants’ own research or teaching. The workshop offers a platform to connect novices and experts who are working with qualitative methods, stimulating discussion and sharing practical tips and literature resources.
https://www.qualhri.com/

W9: Metaphors for Human-Robot Interaction
November 16 —> 20:20-23:20 GMT

Until now, most approaches in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) were centered around a single metaphor, striving towards a human-like, utilitarian, can-do-it-all robot. While this strategy has advantages, it also places unrealistic expectations for robots, which frequently result in disappointment when interacting with them. In this workshop, we call for exploring alternative designs for social robots to cultivate new perspectives on robots, outside the existing norms. Alternative metaphors have been previously successful in breaking through fixation and bringing novel design and products. Furthermore, metaphors can serve as a vessel to wider societal imaginaries of technology and progress.

The aim of this half-day workshop is to use metaphors to reinvent how robots can interact with humans, re-imagine alternative physical shapes for robots, and open up a conversation about the role robots might have in societies. Our goal is to create a “Collection of Metaphors” that could be used within the field of HRI and to other relevant intersection fields. This collection will be shared with the community, and will provide a reference for alternative designs and interactions between humans and robots.

This is the 1st Edition of the “Metaphors for Human-Robot Interaction” Workshop, held virtually and in conjunction with ICSR 2020. The intended audience for this workshop are designers, artists, writers, film-makers, architects, philosophers, psychologists, computer scientists and engineers, that are interested in speculating about new imaginaries for social robots.
robotmetaphors.com