SOUND IN HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION

Workshop, 16th Annual Conference for
Basic and Applied Human-Robot Interaction Research
12 March 2021 - 12:30-16:30 MST

As robots move from laboratories and exhibitions into social environments, nuanced human-robot interaction becomes of growing importance. While most communication in HRI happens in the form of speech, sound as a nonverbal resource has received comparatively less attention. Robot sounds span a wide continuum, from subtle motor hums, through music, to human-inspired vocalizations. Motor sound can influence our impressions and expectations of a robot. Music enables robots to engage and communicate and shared musical experiences foster robot-human relationships. Utterances such as non-linguistic beeps, musical vocalizations, gibberish speech and paralinguistic aspects such as intonation patterns and backchannels (e.g. 'ups', 'aha') are used to communicate affect and intent. 

By bringing together researchers and speakers from various disciplines in academia and industry, the workshop aims to provide insight into how sound can be used to improve human-robot interactions. The workshop presents methodologies relevant to the ideation, creation and evaluation of sound for HRI. It offers a platform to connect researchers working with sound and those interested in doing so, stimulating discussion and sharing ideas to identify future challenges and opportunities. By exploring the various ways in which sound informs, influences, and engages people, the workshop aims to find new ways of using this modality to create richer, more nuanced human-robot interactions.

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Important Dates:

February 14, 2021 (AoE) - Submission Deadline

February 22, 2021 - Decision Notification

March 12, 2021, 12:30-16:30 MST - Workshop