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Interaction Dynamics Among Humans And Robots
The concept of sociality in Robots has taken on a wide variety of nuances and meanings that basically depend on two elements: the ability these machines have to support the social model they refer to, and the complexity of the interaction scenarios they are capable of facing [1].In line with these two elements there are various kinds of social robots, from those which evoke sociality (socially evocative robot) by placing the accent on anthropomorphic or zoomorphic characteristics; to those known as social interface robots, which adopt social and behavioral rules to provide their human interlocutors with a “natural interface”; from socially receptive robots with learning abilities by means of imitation; to sociable robots capable of pro-actively engage in interaction with human beings in order to satisfy an internal need (desires, emotions).
Whilst the concept of “optimal flow” has been widely analyzed by Csikszentmihalyi who presented many characteristics of human optimal experience, this has only recently been applied to the field of Human-Computer Interaction and in particular to Web design but it is still unexplored in Human Robot Interaction. Csikszentmihalyi proposes that there are four dimensions comprising the flow construct: control, attention focus, curiosity and intrinsic interest. These dimensions are linked and interdependent. He further describes nine main elements of characteristic dimensions of the flow experience as:
- Clear goals
- Immediate feedback
- Personal skills are well suited to given challenges
- Action and awareness merge
- Concentration on the task at hand; irrelevant stimuli disappear
- A sense of potential control
- Loss of self-consciousness
- Altered sense of time
- Experience becomes autotelic and intrinsically rewarding
The concept of optimal experiences applied to human-robot interaction refers to the overall subjective feelings of high involvement, concentration, enjoyment and intrinsic interest in interacting with robots. The Seal Robot Paro used both for company and for therapeutic activities, the Intelligent Building Blocks a Robotic construction kit often used in educational activities, LEGO Mindstorms the popular construction kit developed by LEGO. The reason for considering such a different robotic devices is to investigate the different dimensions of the “flow” at different scales. Indeed these three applications present different features in relation to physical appearance, functioning and the activities they support.
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