A Guided Tour of HRI

Robots are becoming increasingly common in modern society. Most of these robots take the form of factory workers and cruise missiles, but robots will soon be commonplace in many other contexts. Today’s newest robots vacuum our floors, drive us around, perform surgery, and assist with science. In space. Tomorrow’s robots will run errands, make art, and help treat autism.

With this exciting new territory comes challenging new problems. If robots become truly commonplace, we must make ensure that such robots behave naturally and ethically. These challenging questions are being investigated by scientists in the field of Human-Robot Interaction (or HRI), a relatively new field at the intersection of computer science, psychology, and philosophy.

In a series of blog posts, I’d like to discuss some of the big topics in HRI. As I add new posts in the series, I will link to them on this page. I expect the layout of the series will vaguely follow this structure:

• Section 1: Introduction to HRI
  • Robots and Agents
  • What is HRI?
• Section 2: Natural Interaction: What factors must be considered in making a robot natural to interact with?
  • Natural Communication
    • Indirect Speech Act Understanding
  • Natural Behavior
    • Uncanny Actions
  • Natural Appearance
• Section 3: Ethical Considerations: What factors must be considered in ensuring the ethical behavior and usage of a robot?
  • Robot on the battlefield
  • Robot in the bedroom
  • Robots at work
  • Home, Hospital, and School