Kerstin Dautenhahn, Canada 150 Research Chair in Intelligent Robotics
University of Waterloo
Abstract: My talk will first introduce the (relatively) new research fields of social robotics and human-robot interaction. Those fields have grown substantially over the past 20 years, not least due to the number of real-world applications where human-robot interaction is key to the success of robots. In these contexts, success is measured in terms of human-robot task performance but importantly, measured in terms of trust towards and acceptance of robots as assistants, co-workers or companions. Relevant application areas cover e.g. robots as co-workers in office or manufacturing environments, care robots for older people, as well as companion and therapy robots for children with special needs. I will survey some research that I have been involved in over the past few years, and outline some challenges for future work.
Bio: Since August 2018 Kerstin Dautenhahn is Canada 150 Research Chair in Intelligent Robotics at University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. She is currently establishing the new Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory. Additionally, she is affiliated with the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, as Professor of Artificial Intelligence, where she had been a founder and coordinator of the Adaptive Systems Research Group since 2000 until her taking up the post at University of Waterloo. Main areas of her research are Human-Robot Interaction, Social Robotics, Socially Intelligent Agents and Artificial Life. She is Editor in Chief (jointly with Prof. Angelo Cangelosi - University of Manchester, UK) of the Journal Interaction Studies- Social Behaviour and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems published by John Benjamins Publishing Company, Editorial Board Member of Adaptive Behavior, Sage Publications, Associate Editor of the International Journal of Social Robotics, published by Springer, Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Cognitive and Developmental Systems (previously IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development), and Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing. She is an Editor of the book series Advances in Interaction Studies, published by John Benjamins Publishing Company. Prof. Dautenhahn is on the Advisory Board of the journal AI and Society (Springer). She is a member of IEEE (Senior Member), ACM, and a Lifelong Fellow of AISB, as well as a member of the Executive Board of the International Foundation for Responsible Robotics. She is also a member of the Steering Group of the Verification and Validation of Autonomous Systems EPSRC-funded Network, coordinated by Prof. Michael Fisher, Liverpool, UK. Since 2006 she has been part of the Standing Steering Committee of the IEEE conference RO-MAN (Human and Robot Interactive Communication).
Date and Time
Mon, 29 April 2019
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Location
DC 1302
University of Waterloo