Improving Human-Robot Interaction Relies On Mimicking Human Behavior

Stevens Institute of Technology

Electrical and computer engineering professor Yi Guo investigates how humans behave in crowds in order to design robots they will trust

In futuristic movies, robots have replaced humans in customer service roles across society. But if you encountered a robot in a crowded airport terminal today, and it told you to step back or to turn around and walk in a different direction, would you?

Why? Or, perhaps more importantly, why not?

"It's difficult to trust other humans," Stevens Institute of Technology electrical and computer engineering professor Yi Guo said. "It can be even more difficult to trust a machine."

But building trust into the design of robots is necessary if they are ever to be accepted as a part of everyday human life. The key to building this trust, Guo says, is prioritizing human comfort. . . .

Continue reading at Stevens Institute of Technology. . . .