The benefit of being physically present: A survey of experimental works comparing copresent robots,telepresent robots and virtual agents

The effects of physical embodiment and physical presence were explored through a survey of 33 experimental works comparing how people interacted with physical robots and virtual agents. A qualitative assessment of the direction of quantitative effects demonstrated that robots were more persuasive and perceived more positively when physically present in a user׳s environment than when digitally-displayed on a screen either as a video feed of the same robot or as a virtual character analog; robots also led to better user performance when they were collocated as opposed to shown via video on a screen. However, participants did not respond differently to physical robots and virtual agents when both were displayed digitally on a screen – suggesting that physical presence, rather than physical embodiment, characterizes people׳s responses to social robots. Implications for understanding psychological response to physical and virtual agents and for methodological design are discussed.     

An integrated modelling environment for the embodiment of mechanical systems

The efficient, economical and often elegant transformation from a design schema to an embodied design solution containing real components is essential for the commercial success of a product. More often the ability of the designer to explore an optimum solution is severely frustrated by the analytically intensive and time-consuming aspects of embodying a concept. This paper presents a computer based system-modelling tool that is to be used by designers during the transformation of a concept to an embodied solution particularly to deal with standard components. This environment provides for the representation of conceptual schemas and subsequent embodiment from computer based component selection modules. These selection modules encompass the full range of electronic representations for standard mechanical components. The strategy for representing a mechanical system, its included components and their associated representations is discussed. The process of constructing a system model, specifying the desired performance characteristics and system resolution are also described.     

Affective computing vs. affective placebo: Study of a biofeedback-controlled game for relaxation training

Relaxation training is an application of affective computing with important implications for health and wellness. After detecting user׳s affective state through physiological sensors, a relaxation training application can provide the user with explicit feedback about his/her detected affective state. This process (biofeedback) can enable an individual to learn over time how to change his/her physiological activity for the purposes of improving health and performance. In this paper, we provide three contributions to the field of affective computing for health and wellness. First, we propose a novel application for relaxation training that combines ideas from affective computing and games. The game detects user׳s level of stress and uses it to influence the affective state and the behavior of a 3D virtual character as a form of embodied feedback. Second, we compare two algorithms for stress detection which follow two different approaches in the affective computing literature: a more practical and less costly approach that uses a single physiological sensor (skin conductance), and a potentially more accurate approach that uses four sensors (skin conductance, heart rate, muscle activity of corrugator supercilii and zygomaticus major). Third, as the central motivation of our research, we aim to improve the traditional methodology employed for comparisons in affective computing studies. To do so, we add to the study a placebo condition in which user׳s stress level, unbeknown to him/her, is determined pseudo-randomly instead of taking into account his/her physiological sensor readings. The obtained results show that only the feedback presented by the single-sensor algorithm was perceived as significantly more accurate than the placebo. If the placebo condition was not included in the study, the effectiveness of the two algorithms would have instead appeared similar. This outcome highlights the importance of using more thorough methodologies in future affective computing studies.     

Embodied categorisation for vision-guided mobile robots

This paper outlines a philosophical and psycho-physiological basis for embodied perception, and develops a framework for conceptual embodiment of vision-guided robots. We argue that categorisation is important in all stages of robot vision. Further, that classical computer vision is unsuitable for this categorisation, however, through conceptual embodiment, active perception can be effective. We present a methodology for developing vision-guided robots that applies embodiment, explicitly and implicitly, in categorising visual data to facilitate efficient perception and action. Finally, we present systems developed using this methodology, and demonstrate that embodied categorisation can make algorithms more efficient and robust.     

楚俗在楚髹漆家具上的体现研究

楚人具有尊凤拜日崇火的基本信仰以及尚赤、尚东、尚左、尚巫、贬龙、贱虎的风尚,这些都可归结为楚俗.本文以这些楚俗为脉络,阐述了其历史由来,分析了其在楚髹漆家具上的具体表现,以此来揭示楚髹漆家具在纹饰、造型、色彩、陈设等方面的特点.     

A game for emotional regulation in adolescents: The (body) interface device matters

The aim of this study is to evaluate the role of the type of interface device in the efficacy of a serious game that teaches emotional regulation (ER) strategies in a non-clinical sample of adolescents. We conducted a between-participants experiment in which participants (N = 61) played a frustration induction game, and then an ER game (a breathing strategy game), using one of three types of devices (computer, smartphone, and RGB-D camera). Frustration mood and perceived arousal were the main variables measured. Results revealed a significant interaction between moment (pre-induction phase, post-induction phase, and regulation phase) and the type of interface device used in the frustration mood scores. In participants who used the computer and smartphone, frustration increased after the induction phase and decreased after the regulation phase. However, for participants who used the RGB-D camera, frustration decreased significantly after the induction phase, and this change was maintained after the regulation phase. Changes in arousal were similar with the three devices. This study highlights that the type of interface device (and specifically, the participation of the body) is a crucial variable in the efficacy of serious games affecting users’ emotional experience.     

Real people and virtual bodies: How disembodied can embodiment be?

It is widely accepted that embodiment is crucial for any self-aware agent. What is less obvious is whether the body has to be real, or whether a virtual body will do. In that case the notion of embodiment would be so attenuated as to be almost indistinguishable from disembodiment. In this article I concentrate on the notion of embodiment in human agents. Could we be disembodied, having no real body, as brains-in-a-vat with only a virtual body? Thought experiments alone will not suffice to answer this Cartesian question. I will draw on both philosophical arguments and empirical data on phantom phenomena. My argument will proceed in three steps. Firstly I will show that phantom phenomena provide a prima facie argument that real embodiment is not necessary for a human being. Secondly I will give a philosophical argument that real movement must precede the intention to move and to act. Agents must at least have had real bodies once. Empirical data seems to bear this out. Finally, however, I will show that a small number of aplasic phantom phenomena undermines this last argument. Most people must have had a real body. But for some people a partly virtual, unreal, phantom body seems to suffice. Yet though there is thus no knockdown argument that we could not be brains-in-a-vat, we still have good reasons to suppose that embodiment must be real, and not virtual.     

Cross-modal compensation between name and visual aspect in socially active avatars

Avatars serve for humans immersed in virtual settings as the interface between real and virtual worlds. The avatar-creation process involves numerous choices, including choice of visual representation, and choices to imbue the character with personality. Here, we hypothesised that these choices are not independent, and that a cross-modal talk may occur between the different components of the avatar identity. Specifically, we investigated whether name properties may be affected by the visual aspect (human vs. non-human) of the avatar. We analyzed names structure of players characters from the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, which display both human and non-human avatars. We selected 1261 names of characters actively engaged in the in-game and out-game social networks. Analysis of the names revealed that female names presented more variability than male names, and contained systematically more vowels than male names. However, the strategy used to enrich the vowel composition of female names differed between human-like and non-human characters, suggesting that a lesser proximity with human regular appearance was compensated by an increase of “feminization” of the name. Altogether, our results suggest that a cross-modal compensation occurs between name and visual aspect in the creation of socially active avatars.     

An integrated modelling approach for the representation and embodiment of engineering systems with standard components

In todays global markets the commercial success of a product, however defined, is highly dependent upon the rapid and efficient transformation of an engineering system from a design schema to a fully embodied optimal solution. The ability of the designer to achieve this is severely frustrated by the analytically intensive and time-consuming aspects of embodying a concept. This is particularly the case where standard components have to be considered. This paper presents a new modelling approach that supports the designer during the transformation of a concept to an embodied solution. This modelling approach provides for the representation of conceptual schemas and their subsequent embodiment with standard components from third-party electronic representations. The modelling strategies and associated software issues for representing a mechanical system, handling the interactions between components and incorporating the governing representations for the design and selection of individual components are discussed. The process of constructing a system model, specifying the desired performance characteristics and the process of system resolution are also described. The paper concludes with an industrial case study which is used to demonstrate the capabilities and potential of the new approach for supporting the embodiment of systems and the important task of design synthesis.     

Describing the design space of mechanical computational design synthesis problems

An important challenge in mechatronic system design is to select a feasible system architecture that satisfies all requirements. This article describes (i) the necessary concepts that a system architect needs to be able to formally and declaratively describe the design space of mechanical design synthesis problems, thereby minimizing accidental complexity; (ii) how a Domain Specific Language based on the SysML modeling language and the Object Constraint Language (OCL) can be used to create this model of the design space; and (iii) an iterative process to come up with a formal model of the design space. This model describes the design space independent of any (knowledge of a) particular solving technology for the Design Space Exploration. Furthermore, the information in the model allows to select the most appropriate solving strategy for a particular design synthesis problem. The different concepts are illustrated on the example of automated synthesis of a gearbox.