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SUMMARY:Challenges in Human-Robot Interaction - Prof.  Kerstin Dautenhahn 
 - University of Hertfordshire
DTSTART:20170215T161500Z
DTEND:20170215T171500Z
UID:TALK70445@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:David Greaves
DESCRIPTION:Human-robot interaction  (HRI) is a highly interdisciplinary f
 ield  that has grown substantially over the past 15 years.  My talk will r
 eflect on the concept of ‘social robots’ and focus on companion robots
 \, i.e. robots that provide useful assistance to people and are required t
 o interact with people in a socially acceptable ways. More and more roboti
 cs projects focus on human-robot collaboration and interaction scenarios\,
  with applications e.g. in healthcare\, service robotics\, entertainment a
 nd manufacturing. My own research currently includes basic research into H
 RI as well as application oriented research into the development of robot 
 home companions and robot-assisted therapy for children with autism.  The 
 talk will emphasize the need for a highly user-centred towards design\, de
 velopment and evaluation of companion robots.  General findings from such 
 work highlight the need for robots to be personalized and to learn coopera
 tively with the users.  Thus\, while companion robots don’t necessarily 
 need to be ‘life-like’ or humanoid in appearance and behaviour\, they 
 do need to deal with the complexity and dynamics of the (human) social and
  non-social environments they operate in. I will outline challenges and op
 portunities of these research areas\, avenues for future research\, and wi
 ll also comment on some common misconceptions of the reality and future of
  social robotic
LOCATION:Lecture Theatre 1\, Computer Laboratory
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