Faculty Profiles - OGAWA Kohei

Designing Robot Behavior in Conversations based on Contemporary Colloquial Theatre Theory Reviewed

Kohei Ogawa, Takenobu Chikaraishi, Yuichiro Yoshikawa, Shogo Nishiguchi, Oriza Hirata, Hiroshi Ishiguro

2014 23RD IEEE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON ROBOT AND HUMAN INTERACTIVE COMMUNICATION (IEEE RO-MAN) page： 168 - 173 2014

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings) Publisher：IEEE

Due to human sensitivity for humanlike objects, designing human-like behavior for a robot that interacts with humans remains a central issue in the HRI field. This issue is formidable because human-likeness is an important factor for better interaction since it can easily convey negative impressions if the design is not perfect, as in the uncanny valley phenomena. This paper addresses this issue with a novel approach that utilizes implicit know-how for performing on stage and is dedicated to represent human beings. Contemporary colloquial theatre theory (CCTT), which is a method of directing plays, is appropriate for this purpose since its reality-oriented instructions are directly applicable for improving robot behavior. In this paper, we report case studies on performing a play involving both humans and a robot. The play in our study was evaluated in public performances in Japan. We report detailed analysis of comparable short plays on human-robot interaction or human-human-robot interaction. Our analysis implies that utterance and motion timings should be tuned depending on the situation. Future work will use a motion capture system to get more precise data and more useful knowledge.

DOI： 10.1109/ROMAN.2014.6926248

Social Android Robots for the Real World

OGAWA Kohei

Systems, control and information Vol. 58 ( 12 ) page： 486-492 2014

Presenting Android as a substitute for human

HOSHIKAWA Tomoya, OGAWA Kohei, ISHIGURO Hiroshi

Technical report of IEICE. HCS Vol. 113 ( 283 ) page： 47-52 2013.11

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)

This paper suggests an android system which can give a speech as a substitute for Prof. Ishiguro. Android's behavior is implemented by playing recorded motion and voice extracted from Prof. Ishiguro. The problem here is a lack of adaptability, the android behaves samely in any situations. It is a one of most important elements to behave adaptively to the situations. This paper focuses on gaze behavior. Stochastic gaze transition model and a model generating gaze from speech are considered.

Societal Androids Based on a Situatedness

WATANABE Miki, OGAWA Kohei, ISHIGURO Hiroshi

Technical report of IEICE. HCS Vol. 113 ( 283 ) page： 31-36 2013.11

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)

In this paper, we proposed the design method for an autonomous android robot that is recognized as an intelligent and a social entity by observers in the real world. To create this kind of robot, we were focused on the situatedness where the android works. We have developed the autonomous android system which enable to interact with visitors based on the concept of situatedness. We conducted two field experiments. The result showed that the visitors evaluated the android has humanlike intelligence. Experiments' results indicated that by making the intelligence definition for each specific situation and design the system based on it, the android might have potential to be recognized as a social and intelligent entity.

Android robots as telepresence media Reviewed

Kohei Ogawa, Shuichi Nishio, Takashi Minato, Hiroshi Ishiguro

Robotics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications Vol. 3 page： 1319 - 1327 2013.10

Language：English Publishing type：Part of collection (book) Publisher：IGI Global

In this chapter, the authors describe two human-like android robots, known as Geminoid and Telenoid, which they have developed. Geminoid was developed for two reasons: (1) to explore how humans react or respond the android during face-to-face communication and (2) to investigate the advantages of the android as a communication medium compared to traditional communication media, such as the telephone or the television conference system. The authors conducted two experiments: the first was targeted to an interlocutor of Geminoid, and the second was targeted to an operator of it. The results of these experiments showed that Geminoid could emulate a human's presence in a natural-conversation situation. Additionally, Geminoid could be as persuasive to the interlocutor as a human. The operators of Geminoid were also influenced by the android: during operation, they felt as if their bodies were one and the same with the Geminoid body. The latest challenge has been to develop Telenoid, an android with a more abstract appearance than Geminoid, which looks and behaves as a minimalistic human. At first glance, Telenoid resembles a human
however, its appearance can be interpreted as any sex or any age. Two field experiments were conducted with Telenoid. The results of these experiments showed that Telenoid could be an acceptable communication medium for both young and elderly people. In particular, physical interaction, such as a hug, positively affected the experience of communicating with Telenoid.

DOI： 10.4018/978-1-4666-4607-0.ch064

Networked Robotics Engagement with People and Real Field: 7. Geminoid at Cafe in Europe

OGAWA Kohei

IPSJ Magazine Vol. 54 ( 7 ) page： 710-714 2013.6

PROMOTING SOCIALIZATION OF SCHOOLCHILDREN USING A TELEOPERATED ANDROID: AN INTERACTION STUDY Reviewed

Ryuji Yamazaki, Shuichi Nishio, Kohei Ogawa, Kohei Matsumura, Takashi Minato, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Tsutomu Fujinami, Masaru Nishikawa

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMANOID ROBOTICS Vol. 10 ( 1 ) 2013.3

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal) Publisher：WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD

Our research focuses on the social aspects of teleoperated androids as new media for human relationships and explores how they can contribute and encourage people to associate with others. We introduced Telenoid, a teleoperated android with a minimalistic human design, to elementary school classrooms to see how children respond to it. We found that Telenoid encourages children to work cooperatively and facilitates communication with senior citizens with dementia. Children differentiated their roles spontaneously and cooperatively participated in group work. In another class, we applied Telenoid to remote communication between schoolchildren and assisted living residents. The children felt relaxed about continuing their conversations with the elderly and positively participated in them. The results suggest that limited functionality may facilitate cooperation among participants, and varied embodiments may promote the learning process of the association with others, even those who are unfamiliar. We propose a teleoperated android as an educational tool to promote socialization.

DOI： 10.1142/S0219843613500072

ヨーロッパのカフェにたたずむジェミノイド Invited

Kohei Ogawa

情報処理 Vol. 54 ( 7 ) page： . 2013

Robot Embodiment, Operator Modality, and Social Interaction in Tele-Existence: A Project Outline Reviewed

Christian Becker-Asano, Severin Gustorff, Kai Oliver Arras, Kohei Ogawa, Shuichi Nishio, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Bernhard Nebel

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 8TH ACM/IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION (HRI 2013) page： 79 - + 2013

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings) Publisher：IEEE

This paper outlines our ongoing project, which aims to investigate the effects of robot embodiment and operator modality on an operator's task efficiency and concomitant level of copresence in remote social interaction. After a brief introduction to related work has been given, five research questions are presented. We discuss how these relate to our choice of the two robotic embodiments "DARYL" and "Geminoid F" and the two operator modalities "console interface" and "head-mounted display". Finally, we postulate that the usefulness of one operator modality over the other will depend on the type of situation an operator has to deal with. This hypothesis is currently being investigated empirically using DARYL at Freiburg University.

DOI： 10.1109/HRI.2013.6483510

Tell Me Your Story, Robot. Introducing an Android as Fiction Character Leads to Higher Perceived Usefulness and Adoption Intention Reviewed

Martina Mara, Markus Appel, Hideaki Ogawa, Christopher Lindinger, Emiko Ogawa, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Kohei Ogawa

PROCEEDINGS OF THE 8TH ACM/IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION (HRI 2013) page： 193 - + 2013

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings) Publisher：IEEE

In a field experiment with N = 75 participants, the android telecommunication robot Telenoid was introduced in three different ways: participants either read a short story presenting the Telenoid as character, a non-narrative information leaflet about it, or they received no preliminary introduction at all before interacting with the robot. Perceived usefulness and behavioral intentions to adopt the robot were significantly higher in the story condition than in both other conditions. In line with the Technology Acceptance Model, reported usefulness additionally served as a mediator between treatment and adoption intention. This study is the first to apply findings from Narrative Persuasion to HRI and can prompt further discussion about stories as means to increase user acceptance of new robotic agents.

DOI： 10.1109/HRI.2013.6483567

詩の朗読エージェントとしてのアンドロイドの可能性 Reviewed

小川浩平, 石黒浩

Vol. 14 ( 1 ) page： 43 - 51 2012.1

Body ownership transfer to teleoperated android robot Reviewed

Shuichi Nishio, Tetsuya Watanabe, Kohei Ogawa, Hiroshi Ishiguro

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics) Vol. 7621 page： 398 - 407 2012

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)

Teleoperators of android robots occasionally feel as if the robotic bodies are extensions of their own. When others touch the teleoperated android, even without tactile feedback, some operators feel as if they themselves have been touched. In the past, a similar phenomenon named "Rubber Hand Illusion" has been studied for its reflection of a three-way interaction among vision, touch and proprioception. In this study, we examined whether a similar interaction occurs when replacing a tactile sensation with android robot teleoperation
that is, whether the interaction among vision, motion and proprioception occurs. The result showed that when the operator and the android motions are synchronized, operators feel as if their sense of body ownership is transferred to the android robot. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.

DOI： 10.1007/978-3-642-34103-8_40

Teleoperated android as an embodied communication medium: A case study with demented elderlies in a care facility Reviewed

Ryuji Yamazaki, Shuichi Nishio, Kohei Ogawa, Hiroshi Ishigur

Proceedings - IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication page： 1066 - 1071 2012

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)

Teleoperated androids, which are robots with humanlike appearances, are being produced as new media of human relationships. We explored the potential of humanoid robots and how they affect people in the real world when they are employed to express a telecommunication presence and a sense of being there. We introduced Telenoid, a teleoperated android, to a residential care facility to see how the elderly with dementia respond to it. Our exploratory study focused on the social aspects that might facilitate communication between the elderly and Telenoid's operator. Telenoid elicited positive images and interactive reactions from the elderly with mild dementia, even from those with severe cognitive impairment. They showed strong attachment to its child-like huggable design and became willing to converse with it. Our result suggests that an affectionate bond may be formed between the elderly and the android to provide the operator with easy communication to elicit responses from senior citizens. © 2012 IEEE.

DOI： 10.1109/ROMAN.2012.6343890

Possibilities of Androids as poetry-reciting agent Reviewed

Kohei Ogawa, Koichi Taura, Hiroshi Ishiguro

Proceedings - IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication page： 565 - 570 2012

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)

In recent years, research has increased on very human-like androids, generally investigating the following: (1) how people treat such very human-like androids and (2) whether it is possible to replace such existing communication media as telephones or TV conference systems with androids as a communication medium. We found that androids have advantages over humans in specific contexts. For example, in a collaboration theatrical project between artists and androids, audiences were impressed by the androids that read poetry. We, therefore, experimentally compared androids and humans in a poetry-reciting context by conducting an experiment to illustrate the influence of an android who recited poetry. Participants listened to poetry that was read by three poetry-reciting agents: the android, the human model on which the android was based, and a box. The experiment results showed that the enjoyment of the poetry gained the highest score under the android condition, indicating that the android has an advantage for communicating the meaning of poetry. © 2012 IEEE.

DOI： 10.1109/ROMAN.2012.6343811

How does telenoid affect the communication between children in classroom setting? Reviewed

Ryuji Yamazaki, Shuichi Nishio, Kohei Ogawa, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Kohei Matsumura, Kensuke Koda, Tsutomu Fujinami

Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings page： 351 - 366 2012

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)

It needs to be investigated how humanoid robots may affect people in the real world when they are employed to express the presence, a feel of being there, in tele-communication. We brought Telenoid, a tele-operated humanoid robot, into a classroom at an elementary school to see how schoolchildren respond to it. Our study is exploratory and we focused on the social aspects that might facilitate communication between schoolchildren. We found that Telenoid affected the way children work as group. They participated in the group work more positively, became more spontaneous, and differentiated their roles. We observed that Telenoid's limited capability led them to change their attitudes so that they could work together. The result suggests that the limited functionality may facilitate cooperation among participants in classroom setting. © 2012 ACM.

DOI： 10.1145/2212776.2212814

Effect of perspective change in body ownership transfer to teleoperated android robot Reviewed

Kohei Ogawa, Koichi Taura, Shuichi Nishio, Hiroshi Ishiguro

Proceedings - IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication page： 1072 - 1077 2012

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)

We previously investigated body ownership transfer to a teleoperated android body caused by motion synchronization between the robot and its operator. Although visual feedback is the only information provided from the robot, due to body ownership transfer, some operators feel as if they were touched when the robot's body was touched. This illusion can help operators transfer their presence to the robotic body during teleoperation. By enhancing this phenomenon, we can improve our communication interface and the quality of the interaction between operator and interlocutor. In this paper, we examined how the change in the operator's perspective affects the body ownership transfer during teleoperation. Based on past studies on the rubber hand illusion, we hypothesized that the perspective change will suppress the body owner transfer. Our results, however, showed that in any perspective condition, the participants felt the body ownership transfer. This shows that its generation process may differ in the body ownership transfer for teleoperated androids and the rubber hand illusion. © 2012 IEEE.

DOI： 10.1109/ROMAN.2012.6343891

Do robot appearance and speech affect people's attitude? Evaluation through the Ultimatum Game Reviewed

Shuichi Nishio, Kohei Ogawa, Yasuhiro Kanakogi, Shoji Itakura, Hiroshi Ishiguro

Proceedings - IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication page： 809 - 814 2012

Language：English Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)

In this study, we examine the factors with which robots are recognized as social beings. Participants joined sessions of the Ultimatum Game, a procedure commonly used for examining attitudes toward others in the fields of economics and social psychology. Several agents differing in their appearances are tested with speech stimuli that are expected to induce a mentalizing effect toward the agents. As a result, we found that while appearance itself did not show significant difference in the attitudes, the mentalizing stimuli affected the attitudes in different ways depending on robots' appearances. This results showed that such elements as simple conversation with the agents and their appearance are important factors so that robots are treated more humanlike and as social beings. © 2012 IEEE.

DOI： 10.1109/ROMAN.2012.6343851