Acquisition of human-robot interaction rules via imitation and response observation

Abstract

We aim to realize human-robot social game interaction as a kind of communication. We proposed a hypothetical development of social game interaction between an infant and a care-giver from a mechanism-sided standpoint, based on developmental psychology. Social games have rules, specific relationship between action and response. Applying the hypothesis, we also propose a scheme to design a robot in which a partner can teach interaction rules through interaction. To investigate the proposed scheme, we built a dynamic model which realizes imitation and ruled interaction and switches them observing partner's response. In the experiment, the partner can teach and the robot can acquire a rule adaptively through interaction without explicit teaching and subsequently it is also achieved about another rule without reset. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.