Using anthropomorphism to improve the human-machine interaction in industrial environments (Part I)

Abstract

The concept of socio-technical systems emphasizes the mutual interrelationship between humans and technical system considering the human operator as an integral part of the system. However, to use the full potential of this idea the technical system has to be perceived and accepted as a team-partner. Anthropomorphism is a promising approach to improve the acceptance of a robotic system as a team-partner. In the first part of this joint contribution we introduce a study focusing on the effect of anthropomorphism in industrial environments. A virtual environment consisting of a robotized assembly cell was utilized to conduct a prediction experiment with 24 participants comparing anthropomorphic movements and trajectories based on linear and angular kinematics of an articulated robot. The task was to predict the target position during movement. The corresponding reaction value and the prediction accuracy were analyzed. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.