AHCI RESEARCH GROUP
Publications
Papers published in international journals,
proceedings of conferences, workshops and books.
OUR RESEARCH
Scientific Publications
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You can use the tag cloud to select only the papers dealing with specific research topics.
You can expand the Abstract, Links and BibTex record for each paper.
2025
Song, T.; Pabst, F.; Eck, U.; Navab, N.
Enhancing Patient Acceptance of Robotic Ultrasound through Conversational Virtual Agent and Immersive Visualizations Journal Article
In: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 2901–2911, 2025, ISSN: 10772626 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: 3D reconstruction, adult, Augmented Reality, Computer graphics, computer interface, echography, female, human, Humans, Imaging, Intelligent robots, Intelligent virtual agents, Language Model, male, Medical robotics, Middle Aged, Mixed reality, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, patient attitude, Patient comfort, procedures, Real-world, Reality visualization, Robotic Ultrasound, Robotics, Three-Dimensional, three-dimensional imaging, Trust and Acceptance, Ultrasonic applications, Ultrasonic equipment, Ultrasonography, Ultrasound probes, User-Computer Interface, Virtual agent, Virtual assistants, Virtual environments, Virtual Reality, Visual languages, Visualization, Young Adult
@article{song_enhancing_2025,
title = {Enhancing Patient Acceptance of Robotic Ultrasound through Conversational Virtual Agent and Immersive Visualizations},
author = {T. Song and F. Pabst and U. Eck and N. Navab},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105003687673&doi=10.1109%2fTVCG.2025.3549181&partnerID=40&md5=1d46569933582ecf5e967f0794aafc07},
doi = {10.1109/TVCG.2025.3549181},
issn = {10772626 (ISSN)},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-01-01},
journal = {IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics},
volume = {31},
number = {5},
pages = {2901–2911},
abstract = {Robotic ultrasound systems have the potential to improve medical diagnostics, but patient acceptance remains a key challenge. To address this, we propose a novel system that combines an AI-based virtual agent, powered by a large language model (LLM), with three mixed reality visualizations aimed at enhancing patient comfort and trust. The LLM enables the virtual assistant to engage in natural, conversational dialogue with patients, answering questions in any format and offering real-time reassurance, creating a more intelligent and reliable interaction. The virtual assistant is animated as controlling the ultrasound probe, giving the impression that the robot is guided by the assistant. The first visualization employs augmented reality (AR), allowing patients to see the real world and the robot with the virtual avatar superimposed. The second visualization is an augmented virtuality (AV) environment, where the real-world body part being scanned is visible, while a 3D Gaussian Splatting reconstruction of the room, excluding the robot, forms the virtual environment. The third is a fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experience, featuring the same 3D reconstruction but entirely virtual, where the patient sees a virtual representation of their body being scanned in a robot-free environment. In this case, the virtual ultrasound probe, mirrors the movement of the probe controlled by the robot, creating a synchronized experience as it touches and moves over the patient's virtual body. We conducted a comprehensive agent-guided robotic ultrasound study with all participants, comparing these visualizations against a standard robotic ultrasound procedure. Results showed significant improvements in patient trust, acceptance, and comfort. Based on these findings, we offer insights into designing future mixed reality visualizations and virtual agents to further enhance patient comfort and acceptance in autonomous medical procedures. © 1995-2012 IEEE.},
keywords = {3D reconstruction, adult, Augmented Reality, Computer graphics, computer interface, echography, female, human, Humans, Imaging, Intelligent robots, Intelligent virtual agents, Language Model, male, Medical robotics, Middle Aged, Mixed reality, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, patient attitude, Patient comfort, procedures, Real-world, Reality visualization, Robotic Ultrasound, Robotics, Three-Dimensional, three-dimensional imaging, Trust and Acceptance, Ultrasonic applications, Ultrasonic equipment, Ultrasonography, Ultrasound probes, User-Computer Interface, Virtual agent, Virtual assistants, Virtual environments, Virtual Reality, Visual languages, Visualization, Young Adult},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Robotic ultrasound systems have the potential to improve medical diagnostics, but patient acceptance remains a key challenge. To address this, we propose a novel system that combines an AI-based virtual agent, powered by a large language model (LLM), with three mixed reality visualizations aimed at enhancing patient comfort and trust. The LLM enables the virtual assistant to engage in natural, conversational dialogue with patients, answering questions in any format and offering real-time reassurance, creating a more intelligent and reliable interaction. The virtual assistant is animated as controlling the ultrasound probe, giving the impression that the robot is guided by the assistant. The first visualization employs augmented reality (AR), allowing patients to see the real world and the robot with the virtual avatar superimposed. The second visualization is an augmented virtuality (AV) environment, where the real-world body part being scanned is visible, while a 3D Gaussian Splatting reconstruction of the room, excluding the robot, forms the virtual environment. The third is a fully immersive virtual reality (VR) experience, featuring the same 3D reconstruction but entirely virtual, where the patient sees a virtual representation of their body being scanned in a robot-free environment. In this case, the virtual ultrasound probe, mirrors the movement of the probe controlled by the robot, creating a synchronized experience as it touches and moves over the patient's virtual body. We conducted a comprehensive agent-guided robotic ultrasound study with all participants, comparing these visualizations against a standard robotic ultrasound procedure. Results showed significant improvements in patient trust, acceptance, and comfort. Based on these findings, we offer insights into designing future mixed reality visualizations and virtual agents to further enhance patient comfort and acceptance in autonomous medical procedures. © 1995-2012 IEEE.
2024
Bojić, L.; Ðapić, V.
The Interplay of Social and Robotics Theories in AGI Alignment: Navigating the Digital City Through Simulation-based Multi-Agent Systems Proceedings Article
In: N., Zdravkovic; University, Belgrade Tadeusa Koscuska 63 Belgrade Metropolitan; D., Domazet; University, Tadeusa Koscuska 63 Belgrade Belgrade Metropolitan; S., Lopez-Pernas; of Eastern Finland, Yliopistokatu-2 Joensuu University; M.A., Conde; de Vegazana S/N University of Leon, Leon Campus; P., Vijayakumar (Ed.): CEUR Workshop Proc., pp. 58–63, CEUR-WS, 2024, ISBN: 16130073 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Artificial general intelligence, Artificial general intelligences, Autonomous agents, Decision making, Decision theory, Decisions makings, Human values, Intelligent Agents, Language Model, Large language model, large language models, Multi agent systems, Philosophical aspects, Robotic theory, Robotics, Robotics Theories, Simulation based approaches, Simulation platform, Simulation-Based Approach, Smart city, Social Theories, Social theory, Theoretical framework, Virtual cities, Virtual Reality
@inproceedings{bojic_interplay_2024,
title = {The Interplay of Social and Robotics Theories in AGI Alignment: Navigating the Digital City Through Simulation-based Multi-Agent Systems},
author = {L. Bojić and V. Ðapić},
editor = {Zdravkovic N. and Belgrade Tadeusa Koscuska 63 Belgrade Metropolitan University and Domazet D. and Tadeusa Koscuska 63 Belgrade Belgrade Metropolitan University and Lopez-Pernas S. and Yliopistokatu-2 Joensuu University of Eastern Finland and Conde M.A. and Leon Campus de Vegazana S/N University of Leon and Vijayakumar P.},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85193478708&partnerID=40&md5=6a9fd04d5bbf8b876ba508bef1c09076},
isbn = {16130073 (ISSN)},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-01-01},
booktitle = {CEUR Workshop Proc.},
volume = {3676},
pages = {58–63},
publisher = {CEUR-WS},
abstract = {This study delves into the task of aligning Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) to societal and ethical norms by using theoretical frameworks derived from social science and robotics. The expansive adoption of AGI technologies magnifies the importance of aligning AGI with human values and ethical boundaries. This paper presents an innovative simulation-based approach, engaging autonomous’digital citizens’ within a multi-agent system simulation in a virtual city environment. The virtual city serves as a platform to examine systematic interactions and decision-making, leveraging various theories, notably, Social Simulation Theory, Theory of Reasoned Action, Multi-Agent System Theory, and Situated Action Theory. The aim of establishing this digital landscape is to create a fluid platform that enables our AI agents to engage in interactions and enact independent decisions, thereby recreating life-like situations. The LLMs, embodying the personas in this digital city, operate as the leading agents demonstrating substantial levels of autonomy. Despite the promising advantages of this approach, limitations primarily lie in the unpredictability of real-world social structures. This work aims to promote a deeper understanding of AGI dynamics and contribute to its future development, prioritizing the integration of diverse societal perspectives in the process. © 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors.},
keywords = {Artificial general intelligence, Artificial general intelligences, Autonomous agents, Decision making, Decision theory, Decisions makings, Human values, Intelligent Agents, Language Model, Large language model, large language models, Multi agent systems, Philosophical aspects, Robotic theory, Robotics, Robotics Theories, Simulation based approaches, Simulation platform, Simulation-Based Approach, Smart city, Social Theories, Social theory, Theoretical framework, Virtual cities, Virtual Reality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This study delves into the task of aligning Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Large Language Models (LLMs) to societal and ethical norms by using theoretical frameworks derived from social science and robotics. The expansive adoption of AGI technologies magnifies the importance of aligning AGI with human values and ethical boundaries. This paper presents an innovative simulation-based approach, engaging autonomous’digital citizens’ within a multi-agent system simulation in a virtual city environment. The virtual city serves as a platform to examine systematic interactions and decision-making, leveraging various theories, notably, Social Simulation Theory, Theory of Reasoned Action, Multi-Agent System Theory, and Situated Action Theory. The aim of establishing this digital landscape is to create a fluid platform that enables our AI agents to engage in interactions and enact independent decisions, thereby recreating life-like situations. The LLMs, embodying the personas in this digital city, operate as the leading agents demonstrating substantial levels of autonomy. Despite the promising advantages of this approach, limitations primarily lie in the unpredictability of real-world social structures. This work aims to promote a deeper understanding of AGI dynamics and contribute to its future development, prioritizing the integration of diverse societal perspectives in the process. © 2024 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
Hellström, T.; Kaiser, N.; Bensch, S.
A Taxonomy of Embodiment in the AI Era Journal Article
In: Electronics (Switzerland), vol. 13, no. 22, 2024, ISSN: 20799292 (ISSN).
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Avatar, Cognition, Digital Twins, Interaction, Robotics
@article{hellstrom_taxonomy_2024,
title = {A Taxonomy of Embodiment in the AI Era},
author = {T. Hellström and N. Kaiser and S. Bensch},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85210288412&doi=10.3390%2felectronics13224441&partnerID=40&md5=a0394b3323e9fe1a58021065aaee5569},
doi = {10.3390/electronics13224441},
issn = {20799292 (ISSN)},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-01-01},
journal = {Electronics (Switzerland)},
volume = {13},
number = {22},
abstract = {This paper presents a taxonomy of agents’ embodiment in physical and virtual environments. It categorizes embodiment based on five entities: the agent being embodied, the possible mediator of the embodiment, the environment in which sensing and acting take place, the degree of body, and the intertwining of body, mind, and environment. The taxonomy is applied to a wide range of embodiment of humans, artifacts, and programs, including recent technological and scientific innovations related to virtual reality, augmented reality, telepresence, the metaverse, digital twins, and large language models. The presented taxonomy is a powerful tool to analyze, clarify, and compare complex cases of embodiment. For example, it makes the choice between a dualistic and non-dualistic perspective of an agent’s embodiment explicit and clear. The taxonomy also aided us to formulate the term “embodiment by proxy” to denote how seemingly non-embodied agents may affect the world by using humans as “extended arms”. We also introduce the concept “off-line embodiment” to describe large language models’ ability to create an illusion of human perception. © 2024 by the authors.},
keywords = {Avatar, Cognition, Digital Twins, Interaction, Robotics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper presents a taxonomy of agents’ embodiment in physical and virtual environments. It categorizes embodiment based on five entities: the agent being embodied, the possible mediator of the embodiment, the environment in which sensing and acting take place, the degree of body, and the intertwining of body, mind, and environment. The taxonomy is applied to a wide range of embodiment of humans, artifacts, and programs, including recent technological and scientific innovations related to virtual reality, augmented reality, telepresence, the metaverse, digital twins, and large language models. The presented taxonomy is a powerful tool to analyze, clarify, and compare complex cases of embodiment. For example, it makes the choice between a dualistic and non-dualistic perspective of an agent’s embodiment explicit and clear. The taxonomy also aided us to formulate the term “embodiment by proxy” to denote how seemingly non-embodied agents may affect the world by using humans as “extended arms”. We also introduce the concept “off-line embodiment” to describe large language models’ ability to create an illusion of human perception. © 2024 by the authors.
2022
Melillo, Antonio; Chirico, Andrea; Pietro, Giuseppe De; Gallo, Luigi; Caggianese, Giuseppe; Barone, Daniela; Laurentiis, Michelino De; Giordano, Antonio
Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Systems for Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review of the Literature Journal Article
In: Cancers, vol. 14, no. 13, pp. 3163, 2022, ISSN: 2072-6694.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Cancer, Disability, Fatigue, Healthcare, Lymphedema, Pain, Rehabilitation, Robotics, Telemedicine, Virtual Reality
@article{melillo_virtual_2022,
title = {Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Systems for Cancer Survivors: A Narrative Review of the Literature},
author = {Antonio Melillo and Andrea Chirico and Giuseppe De Pietro and Luigi Gallo and Giuseppe Caggianese and Daniela Barone and Michelino De Laurentiis and Antonio Giordano},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/14/13/3163},
doi = {10.3390/cancers14133163},
issn = {2072-6694},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-06-01},
urldate = {2023-05-10},
journal = {Cancers},
volume = {14},
number = {13},
pages = {3163},
abstract = {Rehabilitation plays a crucial role in cancer care, as the functioning of cancer survivors is frequently compromised by impairments that can result from the disease itself but also from the long-term sequelae of the treatment. Nevertheless, the current literature shows that only a minority of patients receive physical and/or cognitive rehabilitation. This lack of rehabilitative care is a consequence of many factors, one of which includes the transportation issues linked to disability that limit the patient’s access to rehabilitation facilities. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has further shown the benefits of improving telemedicine and home-based rehabilitative interventions to facilitate the delivery of rehabilitation programs when attendance at healthcare facilities is an obstacle. In recent years, researchers have been investigating the benefits of the application of virtual reality to rehabilitation. Virtual reality is shown to improve adherence and training intensity through gamification, allow the replication of real-life scenarios, and stimulate patients in a multimodal manner. In our present work, we offer an overview of the present literature on virtual reality-implemented cancer rehabilitation. The existence of wide margins for technological development allows us to expect further improvements, but more randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the hypothesis that VRR may improve adherence rates and facilitate telerehabilitation.},
keywords = {Cancer, Disability, Fatigue, Healthcare, Lymphedema, Pain, Rehabilitation, Robotics, Telemedicine, Virtual Reality},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Rehabilitation plays a crucial role in cancer care, as the functioning of cancer survivors is frequently compromised by impairments that can result from the disease itself but also from the long-term sequelae of the treatment. Nevertheless, the current literature shows that only a minority of patients receive physical and/or cognitive rehabilitation. This lack of rehabilitative care is a consequence of many factors, one of which includes the transportation issues linked to disability that limit the patient’s access to rehabilitation facilities. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has further shown the benefits of improving telemedicine and home-based rehabilitative interventions to facilitate the delivery of rehabilitation programs when attendance at healthcare facilities is an obstacle. In recent years, researchers have been investigating the benefits of the application of virtual reality to rehabilitation. Virtual reality is shown to improve adherence and training intensity through gamification, allow the replication of real-life scenarios, and stimulate patients in a multimodal manner. In our present work, we offer an overview of the present literature on virtual reality-implemented cancer rehabilitation. The existence of wide margins for technological development allows us to expect further improvements, but more randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the hypothesis that VRR may improve adherence rates and facilitate telerehabilitation.
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Pilato, Giovanni; Vitale, Gianpaolo
Extending Affective Capabilities for Medical Assistive Robots Journal Article
In: Cognitive Systems Research, vol. 73, pp. 21–25, 2022, ISSN: 13890417.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Anthropomorphic Robots, Assistive Robots, Emotion Detection, Facial Expressions, Human computer interaction, Human Robot Interaction, Humanoid Robots, Natural Language Processing, Robotics, Wellbeing
@article{augelloExtendingAffectiveCapabilities2022,
title = {Extending Affective Capabilities for Medical Assistive Robots},
author = { Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Giovanni Pilato and Gianpaolo Vitale},
doi = {10.1016/j.cogsys.2021.12.004},
issn = {13890417},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
journal = {Cognitive Systems Research},
volume = {73},
pages = {21--25},
abstract = {In this work, we discuss methodologies and implementation choices to enable a humanoid robot to estimate patients' mood and emotions during postoperative home rehabilitation. The approach is modular and it has been implemented into a SoftBank Pepper robotic architecture; however, the approach is general and it can be easily adapted to other robotic platforms. A sample of an interactive session for the detection of the patient's affective state is also reported. textcopyright 2022 Elsevier B.V.},
keywords = {Anthropomorphic Robots, Assistive Robots, Emotion Detection, Facial Expressions, Human computer interaction, Human Robot Interaction, Humanoid Robots, Natural Language Processing, Robotics, Wellbeing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In this work, we discuss methodologies and implementation choices to enable a humanoid robot to estimate patients' mood and emotions during postoperative home rehabilitation. The approach is modular and it has been implemented into a SoftBank Pepper robotic architecture; however, the approach is general and it can be easily adapted to other robotic platforms. A sample of an interactive session for the detection of the patient's affective state is also reported. textcopyright 2022 Elsevier B.V.
Vitabile, Salvatore; Franchini, Silvia; Vassallo, Giorgio
An Optimized Architecture for CGA Operations and Its Application to a Simulated Robotic Arm Journal Article
In: Electronics (Switzerland), vol. 11, no. 21, 2022, ISSN: 2079-9292.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Application-specific processors, Clifford algebra, Computational geometry, Conformal geometric algebra, Embedded coprocessors, Field Programmable Gate Arrays, FPGA prototyping, Geometric algebra, grasping, human-like robotic arms, inverse kinematics, Robotics
@article{vitabileOptimizedArchitectureCGA2022,
title = {An Optimized Architecture for CGA Operations and Its Application to a Simulated Robotic Arm},
author = { Salvatore Vitabile and Silvia Franchini and Giorgio Vassallo},
doi = {10.3390/electronics11213508},
issn = {2079-9292},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
journal = {Electronics (Switzerland)},
volume = {11},
number = {21},
abstract = {Conformal geometric algebra (CGA) is a new geometric computation tool that is attracting growing attention in many research fields, such as computer graphics, robotics, and computer vision. Regarding the robotic applications, new approaches based on CGA have been proposed to efficiently solve problems as the inverse kinematics and grasping of a robotic arm. The hardware acceleration of CGA operations is required to meet real-time performance requirements in embedded robotic platforms. In this paper, we present a novel embedded coprocessor for accelerating CGA operations in robotic tasks. Two robotic algorithms, namely, inverse kinematics and grasping of a human-arm-like kinematics chain, are used to prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The coprocessor natively supports the entire set of CGA operations including both basic operations (products, sums/differences, and unary operations) and complex operations as rigid body motion operations (reflections, rotations, translations, and dilations). The coprocessor prototype is implemented on the Xilinx ML510 development platform as a complete system-on-chip (SoC), integrating both a PowerPC processing core and a CGA coprocessing core on the same Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA chip. Experimental results show speedups of 78texttimes and 246texttimes for inverse kinematics and grasping algorithms, respectively, with respect to the execution on the PowerPC processor. textcopyright 2022 by the authors.},
keywords = {Application-specific processors, Clifford algebra, Computational geometry, Conformal geometric algebra, Embedded coprocessors, Field Programmable Gate Arrays, FPGA prototyping, Geometric algebra, grasping, human-like robotic arms, inverse kinematics, Robotics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Conformal geometric algebra (CGA) is a new geometric computation tool that is attracting growing attention in many research fields, such as computer graphics, robotics, and computer vision. Regarding the robotic applications, new approaches based on CGA have been proposed to efficiently solve problems as the inverse kinematics and grasping of a robotic arm. The hardware acceleration of CGA operations is required to meet real-time performance requirements in embedded robotic platforms. In this paper, we present a novel embedded coprocessor for accelerating CGA operations in robotic tasks. Two robotic algorithms, namely, inverse kinematics and grasping of a human-arm-like kinematics chain, are used to prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The coprocessor natively supports the entire set of CGA operations including both basic operations (products, sums/differences, and unary operations) and complex operations as rigid body motion operations (reflections, rotations, translations, and dilations). The coprocessor prototype is implemented on the Xilinx ML510 development platform as a complete system-on-chip (SoC), integrating both a PowerPC processing core and a CGA coprocessing core on the same Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA chip. Experimental results show speedups of 78texttimes and 246texttimes for inverse kinematics and grasping algorithms, respectively, with respect to the execution on the PowerPC processor. textcopyright 2022 by the authors.
Vitabile, Salvatore; Franchini, Silvia; Vassallo, Giorgio
An Optimized Architecture for CGA Operations and Its Application to a Simulated Robotic Arm Journal Article
In: Electronics (Switzerland), vol. 11, no. 21, 2022, ISSN: 2079-9292.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Application-specific processors, Clifford algebra, Computational geometry, Conformal geometric algebra, Embedded coprocessors, Field Programmable Gate Arrays, FPGA prototyping, Geometric algebra, grasping, human-like robotic arms, inverse kinematics, Robotics
@article{vitabile_optimized_2022,
title = {An Optimized Architecture for CGA Operations and Its Application to a Simulated Robotic Arm},
author = {Salvatore Vitabile and Silvia Franchini and Giorgio Vassallo},
doi = {10.3390/electronics11213508},
issn = {2079-9292},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
journal = {Electronics (Switzerland)},
volume = {11},
number = {21},
abstract = {Conformal geometric algebra (CGA) is a new geometric computation tool that is attracting growing attention in many research fields, such as computer graphics, robotics, and computer vision. Regarding the robotic applications, new approaches based on CGA have been proposed to efficiently solve problems as the inverse kinematics and grasping of a robotic arm. The hardware acceleration of CGA operations is required to meet real-time performance requirements in embedded robotic platforms. In this paper, we present a novel embedded coprocessor for accelerating CGA operations in robotic tasks. Two robotic algorithms, namely, inverse kinematics and grasping of a human-arm-like kinematics chain, are used to prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The coprocessor natively supports the entire set of CGA operations including both basic operations (products, sums/differences, and unary operations) and complex operations as rigid body motion operations (reflections, rotations, translations, and dilations). The coprocessor prototype is implemented on the Xilinx ML510 development platform as a complete system-on-chip (SoC), integrating both a PowerPC processing core and a CGA coprocessing core on the same Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA chip. Experimental results show speedups of 78× and 246× for inverse kinematics and grasping algorithms, respectively, with respect to the execution on the PowerPC processor. © 2022 by the authors.},
keywords = {Application-specific processors, Clifford algebra, Computational geometry, Conformal geometric algebra, Embedded coprocessors, Field Programmable Gate Arrays, FPGA prototyping, Geometric algebra, grasping, human-like robotic arms, inverse kinematics, Robotics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Conformal geometric algebra (CGA) is a new geometric computation tool that is attracting growing attention in many research fields, such as computer graphics, robotics, and computer vision. Regarding the robotic applications, new approaches based on CGA have been proposed to efficiently solve problems as the inverse kinematics and grasping of a robotic arm. The hardware acceleration of CGA operations is required to meet real-time performance requirements in embedded robotic platforms. In this paper, we present a novel embedded coprocessor for accelerating CGA operations in robotic tasks. Two robotic algorithms, namely, inverse kinematics and grasping of a human-arm-like kinematics chain, are used to prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The coprocessor natively supports the entire set of CGA operations including both basic operations (products, sums/differences, and unary operations) and complex operations as rigid body motion operations (reflections, rotations, translations, and dilations). The coprocessor prototype is implemented on the Xilinx ML510 development platform as a complete system-on-chip (SoC), integrating both a PowerPC processing core and a CGA coprocessing core on the same Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA chip. Experimental results show speedups of 78× and 246× for inverse kinematics and grasping algorithms, respectively, with respect to the execution on the PowerPC processor. © 2022 by the authors.
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Pilato, Giovanni; Vitale, Gianpaolo
Extending affective capabilities for medical assistive robots Journal Article
In: Cognitive Systems Research, vol. 73, pp. 21–25, 2022, ISSN: 13890417.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Anthropomorphic Robots, Assistive Robots, Emotion Detection, Facial Expressions, Human computer interaction, Human Robot Interaction, Humanoid Robots, Natural Language Processing, Robotics, Wellbeing
@article{augello_extending_2022,
title = {Extending affective capabilities for medical assistive robots},
author = {Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Giovanni Pilato and Gianpaolo Vitale},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85123046436&doi=10.1016%2fj.cogsys.2021.12.004&partnerID=40&md5=6e76332f7f95333a9ae2e8f11c054622},
doi = {10.1016/j.cogsys.2021.12.004},
issn = {13890417},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-01-01},
journal = {Cognitive Systems Research},
volume = {73},
pages = {21–25},
abstract = {In this work, we discuss methodologies and implementation choices to enable a humanoid robot to estimate patients’ mood and emotions during postoperative home rehabilitation. The approach is modular and it has been implemented into a SoftBank Pepper robotic architecture; however, the approach is general and it can be easily adapted to other robotic platforms. A sample of an interactive session for the detection of the patient's affective state is also reported. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.},
keywords = {Anthropomorphic Robots, Assistive Robots, Emotion Detection, Facial Expressions, Human computer interaction, Human Robot Interaction, Humanoid Robots, Natural Language Processing, Robotics, Wellbeing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In this work, we discuss methodologies and implementation choices to enable a humanoid robot to estimate patients’ mood and emotions during postoperative home rehabilitation. The approach is modular and it has been implemented into a SoftBank Pepper robotic architecture; however, the approach is general and it can be easily adapted to other robotic platforms. A sample of an interactive session for the detection of the patient's affective state is also reported. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.
2021
Ferrante, Giuliana; Vitale, Gianpaolo; Licari, Amelia; Montalbano, Laura; Pilato, Giovanni; Infantino, Ignazio; Augello, Agnese; Grutta, Stefania La
Social Robots and Therapeutic Adherence: A New Challenge in Pediatric Asthma? Journal Article
In: Paediatric Respiratory Reviews, vol. 40, pp. 46–51, 2021, ISSN: 15260542.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Asthma, Healthcare, Robotics, Social Agents, Social Robots
@article{ferranteSocialRobotsTherapeutic2021,
title = {Social Robots and Therapeutic Adherence: A New Challenge in Pediatric Asthma?},
author = { Giuliana Ferrante and Gianpaolo Vitale and Amelia Licari and Laura Montalbano and Giovanni Pilato and Ignazio Infantino and Agnese Augello and Stefania La Grutta},
doi = {10.1016/j.prrv.2020.11.001},
issn = {15260542},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-01-01},
journal = {Paediatric Respiratory Reviews},
volume = {40},
pages = {46--51},
abstract = {Social Robots are used in different contexts and, in healthcare, they are better known as Socially Assistive Robots. In the context of asthma, the use of Socially Assistive Robots has the potential to increase motivation and engagement to treatment. Other positive roles proposed for Socially Assistive Robots are to provide education, training regarding treatments, and feedback to patients. This review evaluates emerging interventions for improving treatment adherence in pediatric asthma, focusing on the possible future role of social robots in the clinical practice. textcopyright 2020 Elsevier Ltd},
keywords = {Asthma, Healthcare, Robotics, Social Agents, Social Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Social Robots are used in different contexts and, in healthcare, they are better known as Socially Assistive Robots. In the context of asthma, the use of Socially Assistive Robots has the potential to increase motivation and engagement to treatment. Other positive roles proposed for Socially Assistive Robots are to provide education, training regarding treatments, and feedback to patients. This review evaluates emerging interventions for improving treatment adherence in pediatric asthma, focusing on the possible future role of social robots in the clinical practice. textcopyright 2020 Elsevier Ltd
Ferrante, Giuliana; Vitale, Gianpaolo; Licari, Amelia; Montalbano, Laura; Pilato, Giovanni; Infantino, Ignazio; Augello, Agnese; Grutta, Stefania La
Social robots and therapeutic adherence: A new challenge in pediatric asthma? Journal Article
In: Paediatric Respiratory Reviews, vol. 40, pp. 46–51, 2021, ISSN: 15260542.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Asthma, Healthcare, Robotics, Social Agents, Social Robots
@article{ferrante_social_2021,
title = {Social robots and therapeutic adherence: A new challenge in pediatric asthma?},
author = {Giuliana Ferrante and Gianpaolo Vitale and Amelia Licari and Laura Montalbano and Giovanni Pilato and Ignazio Infantino and Agnese Augello and Stefania La Grutta},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85099604396&doi=10.1016%2fj.prrv.2020.11.001&partnerID=40&md5=62a90d560382486591043c23bd15f2a9},
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abstract = {Social Robots are used in different contexts and, in healthcare, they are better known as Socially Assistive Robots. In the context of asthma, the use of Socially Assistive Robots has the potential to increase motivation and engagement to treatment. Other positive roles proposed for Socially Assistive Robots are to provide education, training regarding treatments, and feedback to patients. This review evaluates emerging interventions for improving treatment adherence in pediatric asthma, focusing on the possible future role of social robots in the clinical practice. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd},
keywords = {Asthma, Healthcare, Robotics, Social Agents, Social Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
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Social Robots are used in different contexts and, in healthcare, they are better known as Socially Assistive Robots. In the context of asthma, the use of Socially Assistive Robots has the potential to increase motivation and engagement to treatment. Other positive roles proposed for Socially Assistive Robots are to provide education, training regarding treatments, and feedback to patients. This review evaluates emerging interventions for improving treatment adherence in pediatric asthma, focusing on the possible future role of social robots in the clinical practice. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd
2020
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Gaglio, Salvatore; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
An Artificial Soft Somatosensory System for a Cognitive Robot Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings - 4th IEEE International Conference on Robotic Computing, IRC 2020, pp. 319–326, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2020, ISBN: 978-1-72815-237-0.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Cognitive Architectures, Reinforcement Learning, Robotics, Social Robots, Somatosensory Systems
@inproceedings{augelloArtificialSoftSomatosensory2020,
title = {An Artificial Soft Somatosensory System for a Cognitive Robot},
author = { Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Salvatore Gaglio and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
doi = {10.1109/IRC.2020.00058},
isbn = {978-1-72815-237-0},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings - 4th IEEE International Conference on Robotic Computing, IRC 2020},
pages = {319--326},
publisher = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.},
abstract = {The paper proposes an artificial somatosensory system loosely inspired by human beings' biology and embedded in a cognitive architecture (CA). It enables a robot to receive the stimulation from its embodiment, and use these sensations, we called roboceptions, to behave according to both the external environment and the internal robot status. In such a way, the robot is aware of its body and able to interpret physical sensations can be more effective in the task while maintaining its well being. The robot's physiological urges are tightly bound to the specific physical state of the robot. Positive and negative physical information can, therefore, be processed and let the robot behave in a more realistic way adopting the right trade-off between the achievement of the task and the well-being of the robot. This goal has been achieved through a reinforcement learning approach. To test these statements we considered, as a test-bench, the execution of working performances with an SoftBank NAO robot that are modulated according its body well-being. textcopyright 2020 IEEE.},
keywords = {Cognitive Architectures, Reinforcement Learning, Robotics, Social Robots, Somatosensory Systems},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The paper proposes an artificial somatosensory system loosely inspired by human beings' biology and embedded in a cognitive architecture (CA). It enables a robot to receive the stimulation from its embodiment, and use these sensations, we called roboceptions, to behave according to both the external environment and the internal robot status. In such a way, the robot is aware of its body and able to interpret physical sensations can be more effective in the task while maintaining its well being. The robot's physiological urges are tightly bound to the specific physical state of the robot. Positive and negative physical information can, therefore, be processed and let the robot behave in a more realistic way adopting the right trade-off between the achievement of the task and the well-being of the robot. This goal has been achieved through a reinforcement learning approach. To test these statements we considered, as a test-bench, the execution of working performances with an SoftBank NAO robot that are modulated according its body well-being. textcopyright 2020 IEEE.
Augello, Agnese; Daniela, Linda; Gentile, Manuel; Ifenthaler, Dirk; Pilato, Giovanni
Editorial: Robot-Assisted Learning and Education Journal Article
In: Frontiers in Robotics and AI, vol. 7, 2020, ISSN: 22969144.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Education, Robotics
@article{augelloEditorialRobotAssistedLearning2020,
title = {Editorial: Robot-Assisted Learning and Education},
author = { Agnese Augello and Linda Daniela and Manuel Gentile and Dirk Ifenthaler and Giovanni Pilato},
doi = {10.3389/frobt.2020.591319},
issn = {22969144},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI},
volume = {7},
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pubstate = {published},
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Augello, Agnese; Ciulla, Angelo; Cuzzocrea, Alfredo; Gaglio, Salvatore; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
Towards an Intelligent System for Supporting Gesture Acquisition and Reproduction in Humanoid Robots Proceedings Article
In: DMSVIVA 2020 - Proceedings of the 26th International DMS Conference on Visualization and Visual Languages, pp. 82–86, Knowledge Systems Institute Graduate School, KSI Research Inc., 2020, ISBN: 1-891706-51-9 978-1-891706-51-6.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Anthropomorphic Robots, Humanoid Robots, Robotics
@inproceedings{augelloIntelligentSystemSupporting2020,
title = {Towards an Intelligent System for Supporting Gesture Acquisition and Reproduction in Humanoid Robots},
author = { Agnese Augello and Angelo Ciulla and Alfredo Cuzzocrea and Salvatore Gaglio and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
doi = {10.18293/DMSVIVA2020-017},
isbn = {1-891706-51-9 978-1-891706-51-6},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {DMSVIVA 2020 - Proceedings of the 26th International DMS Conference on Visualization and Visual Languages},
pages = {82--86},
publisher = {Knowledge Systems Institute Graduate School, KSI Research Inc.},
abstract = {In this paper, an intelligent system for supporting gesture acquisition and reproduction in humanoid robots, which is based on the well-known Microsoft Kinect framework, is introduced and discussed in this paper. The idea that has inspired the paper is represented by endowing an humanoid robot with the capability to mimic the motion of a human user in real time. As a further extension, the latter amenity may serve as a basis for further gesture based human-robot interactions. textcopyright 2020 DMSVIVA 2020 - Proceedings of the 26th International DMS Conference on Visualization and Visual Languages. All rights reserved.},
keywords = {Anthropomorphic Robots, Humanoid Robots, Robotics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper, an intelligent system for supporting gesture acquisition and reproduction in humanoid robots, which is based on the well-known Microsoft Kinect framework, is introduced and discussed in this paper. The idea that has inspired the paper is represented by endowing an humanoid robot with the capability to mimic the motion of a human user in real time. As a further extension, the latter amenity may serve as a basis for further gesture based human-robot interactions. textcopyright 2020 DMSVIVA 2020 - Proceedings of the 26th International DMS Conference on Visualization and Visual Languages. All rights reserved.
Bono, Adriana; Augello, Agnese; Gentile, Manuel; Gaglio, Salvatore
Social Practices Based Characters in a Robotic Storytelling System Proceedings Article
In: 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2020, pp. 90–95, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2020, ISBN: 978-1-72816-075-7.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: ACT-R, Cognitive Architectures, Cognitive Systems, Education, Reasoning, Robotics, Social Practices
@inproceedings{bonoSocialPracticesBased2020,
title = {Social Practices Based Characters in a Robotic Storytelling System},
author = { Adriana Bono and Agnese Augello and Manuel Gentile and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.1109/RO-MAN47096.2020.9223501},
isbn = {978-1-72816-075-7},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2020},
pages = {90--95},
publisher = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.},
abstract = {In this work, we present a robotic storytelling system, where the characters have been modelled as cognitive agents embodied in Pepper and NAO robots. The characters have been designed by exploiting the ACT-R architecture, taking into account knowledge, behaviours, norms, and expectations typical of social practices and desires resulting from their personality. The characters explain their reasoning processes during the narration, through a sort of internal dialogue that generate a high level of credibility experienced over the audience. textcopyright 2020 IEEE.},
keywords = {ACT-R, Cognitive Architectures, Cognitive Systems, Education, Reasoning, Robotics, Social Practices},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this work, we present a robotic storytelling system, where the characters have been modelled as cognitive agents embodied in Pepper and NAO robots. The characters have been designed by exploiting the ACT-R architecture, taking into account knowledge, behaviours, norms, and expectations typical of social practices and desires resulting from their personality. The characters explain their reasoning processes during the narration, through a sort of internal dialogue that generate a high level of credibility experienced over the audience. textcopyright 2020 IEEE.
Trifir`o, Irene; Augello, Agnese; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo; Meo, Rosa
How Are You? How a Robot Can Learn to Express Its Own Roboceptions Proceedings Article
In: Cristiani, Matteo; Toro, Carlos; Zanni-Merk, Cecilia; Howlett, Robert J.; Jain, Lakhmi C. (Ed.): Procedia Computer Science, pp. 480–489, Elsevier B.V., 2020.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Human computer interaction, Knowledge Representation, Latent Semantic Analysis, Natural Language Processing, Robotics, Semantic Computing, Social Robots
@inproceedings{trifiroHowAreYou2020,
title = {How Are You? How a Robot Can Learn to Express Its Own Roboceptions},
author = { Irene Trifir{`o} and Agnese Augello and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella and Rosa Meo},
editor = { Matteo Cristiani and Carlos Toro and Cecilia {Zanni-Merk} and Robert J. Howlett and Lakhmi C. Jain},
doi = {10.1016/j.procs.2020.08.050},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {Procedia Computer Science},
volume = {176},
pages = {480--489},
publisher = {Elsevier B.V.},
abstract = {This work is framed on investigating how a robot can learn associations between linguistic elements, such as words or sentences, and its bodily perceptions, that we named ``roboceptions''. We discuss the possibility of defining such a process of an association through the interaction with human beings. By interacting with a user, the robot can learn to ascribe a meaning to its roboceptions to express them in natural language. Such a process could then be used by the robot in a verbal interaction to detect some words recalling the previously experimented roboceptions. In this paper, we discuss a Dual-NMT approach to realize such an association. However, it requires adequate training corpus. For this reason, we consider two different phases towards the realization of the system, and we show the results of the first phase, comparing two approaches: one based on the Latent Semantic Analysis paradigm and one based on the Random Indexing methodology.},
keywords = {Human computer interaction, Knowledge Representation, Latent Semantic Analysis, Natural Language Processing, Robotics, Semantic Computing, Social Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This work is framed on investigating how a robot can learn associations between linguistic elements, such as words or sentences, and its bodily perceptions, that we named ``roboceptions''. We discuss the possibility of defining such a process of an association through the interaction with human beings. By interacting with a user, the robot can learn to ascribe a meaning to its roboceptions to express them in natural language. Such a process could then be used by the robot in a verbal interaction to detect some words recalling the previously experimented roboceptions. In this paper, we discuss a Dual-NMT approach to realize such an association. However, it requires adequate training corpus. For this reason, we consider two different phases towards the realization of the system, and we show the results of the first phase, comparing two approaches: one based on the Latent Semantic Analysis paradigm and one based on the Random Indexing methodology.
Trifirò, Irene; Augello, Agnese; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo; Meo, Rosa
How are you? How a robot can learn to express its own roboceptions Proceedings Article
In: Cristiani, Matteo; Toro, Carlos; Zanni-Merk, Cecilia; Howlett, Robert J.; Jain, Lakhmi C. (Ed.): Procedia Computer Science, pp. 480–489, Elsevier B.V., 2020.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Human computer interaction, Knowledge Representation, Latent Semantic Analysis, Natural Language Processing, Robotics, Semantic Computing, Social Robots
@inproceedings{trifiro_how_2020,
title = {How are you? How a robot can learn to express its own roboceptions},
author = {Irene Trifirò and Agnese Augello and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella and Rosa Meo},
editor = {Matteo Cristiani and Carlos Toro and Cecilia Zanni-Merk and Robert J. Howlett and Lakhmi C. Jain},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85093358258&doi=10.1016%2fj.procs.2020.08.050&partnerID=40&md5=d262d3c7852f492f6a871ed2c4b7e941},
doi = {10.1016/j.procs.2020.08.050},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {Procedia Computer Science},
volume = {176},
pages = {480–489},
publisher = {Elsevier B.V.},
abstract = {This work is framed on investigating how a robot can learn associations between linguistic elements, such as words or sentences, and its bodily perceptions, that we named “roboceptions”. We discuss the possibility of defining such a process of an association through the interaction with human beings. By interacting with a user, the robot can learn to ascribe a meaning to its roboceptions to express them in natural language. Such a process could then be used by the robot in a verbal interaction to detect some words recalling the previously experimented roboceptions. In this paper, we discuss a Dual-NMT approach to realize such an association. However, it requires adequate training corpus. For this reason, we consider two different phases towards the realization of the system, and we show the results of the first phase, comparing two approaches: one based on the Latent Semantic Analysis paradigm and one based on the Random Indexing methodology.},
keywords = {Human computer interaction, Knowledge Representation, Latent Semantic Analysis, Natural Language Processing, Robotics, Semantic Computing, Social Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This work is framed on investigating how a robot can learn associations between linguistic elements, such as words or sentences, and its bodily perceptions, that we named “roboceptions”. We discuss the possibility of defining such a process of an association through the interaction with human beings. By interacting with a user, the robot can learn to ascribe a meaning to its roboceptions to express them in natural language. Such a process could then be used by the robot in a verbal interaction to detect some words recalling the previously experimented roboceptions. In this paper, we discuss a Dual-NMT approach to realize such an association. However, it requires adequate training corpus. For this reason, we consider two different phases towards the realization of the system, and we show the results of the first phase, comparing two approaches: one based on the Latent Semantic Analysis paradigm and one based on the Random Indexing methodology.
Augello, Agnese; Ciulla, Angelo; Cuzzocrea, Alfredo; Gaglio, Salvatore; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
Towards an intelligent system for supporting gesture acquisition and reproduction in humanoid robots Proceedings Article
In: DMSVIVA 2020 - Proceedings of the 26th International DMS Conference on Visualization and Visual Languages, pp. 82–86, Knowledge Systems Institute Graduate School, KSI Research Inc., 2020, ISBN: 1-891706-51-9 978-1-891706-51-6.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Anthropomorphic Robots, Humanoid Robots, Robotics
@inproceedings{augello_towards_2020,
title = {Towards an intelligent system for supporting gesture acquisition and reproduction in humanoid robots},
author = {Agnese Augello and Angelo Ciulla and Alfredo Cuzzocrea and Salvatore Gaglio and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85091661890&doi=10.18293%2fDMSVIVA2020-017&partnerID=40&md5=951b4f6eba6af53383f183d3e01bd3f6},
doi = {10.18293/DMSVIVA2020-017},
isbn = {1-891706-51-9 978-1-891706-51-6},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {DMSVIVA 2020 - Proceedings of the 26th International DMS Conference on Visualization and Visual Languages},
pages = {82–86},
publisher = {Knowledge Systems Institute Graduate School, KSI Research Inc.},
abstract = {In this paper, an intelligent system for supporting gesture acquisition and reproduction in humanoid robots, which is based on the well-known Microsoft Kinect framework, is introduced and discussed in this paper. The idea that has inspired the paper is represented by endowing an humanoid robot with the capability to mimic the motion of a human user in real time. As a further extension, the latter amenity may serve as a basis for further gesture based human-robot interactions. © 2020 DMSVIVA 2020 - Proceedings of the 26th International DMS Conference on Visualization and Visual Languages. All rights reserved.},
keywords = {Anthropomorphic Robots, Humanoid Robots, Robotics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper, an intelligent system for supporting gesture acquisition and reproduction in humanoid robots, which is based on the well-known Microsoft Kinect framework, is introduced and discussed in this paper. The idea that has inspired the paper is represented by endowing an humanoid robot with the capability to mimic the motion of a human user in real time. As a further extension, the latter amenity may serve as a basis for further gesture based human-robot interactions. © 2020 DMSVIVA 2020 - Proceedings of the 26th International DMS Conference on Visualization and Visual Languages. All rights reserved.
Augello, Agnese; Daniela, Linda; Gentile, Manuel; Ifenthaler, Dirk; Pilato, Giovanni
Editorial: Robot-Assisted Learning and Education Journal Article
In: Frontiers in Robotics and AI, vol. 7, 2020, ISSN: 22969144.
Links | BibTeX | Tags: Education, Robotics
@article{augello_editorial_2020,
title = {Editorial: Robot-Assisted Learning and Education},
author = {Agnese Augello and Linda Daniela and Manuel Gentile and Dirk Ifenthaler and Giovanni Pilato},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85097213781&doi=10.3389%2ffrobt.2020.591319&partnerID=40&md5=863c99ad2164c56e093c3b847bae67df},
doi = {10.3389/frobt.2020.591319},
issn = {22969144},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI},
volume = {7},
keywords = {Education, Robotics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Bono, Adriana; Augello, Agnese; Gentile, Manuel; Gaglio, Salvatore
Social Practices based characters in a Robotic Storytelling System Proceedings Article
In: 29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2020, pp. 90–95, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2020, ISBN: 978-1-72816-075-7.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: ACT-R, Cognitive Architectures, Cognitive Systems, Education, Reasoning, Robotics, Social Practices
@inproceedings{bono_social_2020,
title = {Social Practices based characters in a Robotic Storytelling System},
author = {Adriana Bono and Agnese Augello and Manuel Gentile and Salvatore Gaglio},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85095730937&doi=10.1109%2fRO-MAN47096.2020.9223501&partnerID=40&md5=aa487981e36f25abff7e7dd8dadef50e},
doi = {10.1109/RO-MAN47096.2020.9223501},
isbn = {978-1-72816-075-7},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {29th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2020},
pages = {90–95},
publisher = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.},
abstract = {In this work, we present a robotic storytelling system, where the characters have been modelled as cognitive agents embodied in Pepper and NAO robots. The characters have been designed by exploiting the ACT-R architecture, taking into account knowledge, behaviours, norms, and expectations typical of social practices and desires resulting from their personality. The characters explain their reasoning processes during the narration, through a sort of internal dialogue that generate a high level of credibility experienced over the audience. © 2020 IEEE.},
keywords = {ACT-R, Cognitive Architectures, Cognitive Systems, Education, Reasoning, Robotics, Social Practices},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this work, we present a robotic storytelling system, where the characters have been modelled as cognitive agents embodied in Pepper and NAO robots. The characters have been designed by exploiting the ACT-R architecture, taking into account knowledge, behaviours, norms, and expectations typical of social practices and desires resulting from their personality. The characters explain their reasoning processes during the narration, through a sort of internal dialogue that generate a high level of credibility experienced over the audience. © 2020 IEEE.
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Gaglio, Salvatore; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
An Artificial Soft Somatosensory System for a Cognitive Robot Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings - 4th IEEE International Conference on Robotic Computing, IRC 2020, pp. 319–326, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2020, ISBN: 978-1-72815-237-0.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Cognitive Architectures, Reinforcement Learning, Robotics, Social Robots, Somatosensory Systems
@inproceedings{augello_artificial_2020,
title = {An Artificial Soft Somatosensory System for a Cognitive Robot},
author = {Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Salvatore Gaglio and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85099360477&doi=10.1109%2fIRC.2020.00058&partnerID=40&md5=87b4c20a11e6bca2f17e6cf2758353f8},
doi = {10.1109/IRC.2020.00058},
isbn = {978-1-72815-237-0},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings - 4th IEEE International Conference on Robotic Computing, IRC 2020},
pages = {319–326},
publisher = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.},
abstract = {The paper proposes an artificial somatosensory system loosely inspired by human beings' biology and embedded in a cognitive architecture (CA). It enables a robot to receive the stimulation from its embodiment, and use these sensations, we called roboceptions, to behave according to both the external environment and the internal robot status. In such a way, the robot is aware of its body and able to interpret physical sensations can be more effective in the task while maintaining its well being. The robot's physiological urges are tightly bound to the specific physical state of the robot. Positive and negative physical information can, therefore, be processed and let the robot behave in a more realistic way adopting the right trade-off between the achievement of the task and the well-being of the robot. This goal has been achieved through a reinforcement learning approach. To test these statements we considered, as a test-bench, the execution of working performances with an SoftBank NAO robot that are modulated according its body well-being. © 2020 IEEE.},
keywords = {Cognitive Architectures, Reinforcement Learning, Robotics, Social Robots, Somatosensory Systems},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The paper proposes an artificial somatosensory system loosely inspired by human beings' biology and embedded in a cognitive architecture (CA). It enables a robot to receive the stimulation from its embodiment, and use these sensations, we called roboceptions, to behave according to both the external environment and the internal robot status. In such a way, the robot is aware of its body and able to interpret physical sensations can be more effective in the task while maintaining its well being. The robot's physiological urges are tightly bound to the specific physical state of the robot. Positive and negative physical information can, therefore, be processed and let the robot behave in a more realistic way adopting the right trade-off between the achievement of the task and the well-being of the robot. This goal has been achieved through a reinforcement learning approach. To test these statements we considered, as a test-bench, the execution of working performances with an SoftBank NAO robot that are modulated according its body well-being. © 2020 IEEE.
2019
Augello, Agnese; Pilato, Giovanni
An Annotated Corpus of Stories and Gestures for a Robotic Storyteller Proceedings Article
In: Proceedings - 3rd IEEE International Conference on Robotic Computing, IRC 2019, pp. 630–635, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2019, ISBN: 978-1-5386-9245-5.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Annotated Corpus, Robotics, Semantic Computing, Storytelling Robots
@inproceedings{augelloAnnotatedCorpusStories2019,
title = {An Annotated Corpus of Stories and Gestures for a Robotic Storyteller},
author = { Agnese Augello and Giovanni Pilato},
doi = {10.1109/IRC.2019.00127},
isbn = {978-1-5386-9245-5},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {Proceedings - 3rd IEEE International Conference on Robotic Computing, IRC 2019},
pages = {630--635},
publisher = {Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.},
abstract = {This paper describes a system which has been used to automatically create an annotated corpus of stories. This corpus can be exploited by a robotic storyteller. In a first phase stories were retrieved from a repository. The textual content of each story was semantically analyzed in order to locate meaningful terms in the sentences that can be accompanied by proper gestures and possible emotions that can be expressed. Once the whole story is properly labelled, it can be dramatized by a robot storyteller. We discuss a demonstration of the use of this approach with NarRob, a storyteller robot that we have designed within our institute. textcopyright 2019 IEEE.},
keywords = {Annotated Corpus, Robotics, Semantic Computing, Storytelling Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
This paper describes a system which has been used to automatically create an annotated corpus of stories. This corpus can be exploited by a robotic storyteller. In a first phase stories were retrieved from a repository. The textual content of each story was semantically analyzed in order to locate meaningful terms in the sentences that can be accompanied by proper gestures and possible emotions that can be expressed. Once the whole story is properly labelled, it can be dramatized by a robot storyteller. We discuss a demonstration of the use of this approach with NarRob, a storyteller robot that we have designed within our institute. textcopyright 2019 IEEE.
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
Introducing NarRob, a Robotic Storyteller Proceedings Article
In: Gentile, M; Allegra, M; Sobke, H (Ed.): GAMES AND LEARNING ALLIANCE, GALA 2018, pp. 387–396, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND, 2019, ISBN: 978-3-030-11548-7 978-3-030-11547-0.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Bullying, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Education, Robotics, Social Practices, Storytelling Robots
@inproceedings{augelloIntroducingNarRobRobotic2019,
title = {Introducing NarRob, a Robotic Storyteller},
author = { Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
editor = { M Gentile and M Allegra and H Sobke},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-11548-7_36},
isbn = {978-3-030-11548-7 978-3-030-11547-0},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {GAMES AND LEARNING ALLIANCE, GALA 2018},
volume = {11385},
pages = {387--396},
publisher = {SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG},
address = {GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND},
series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science},
abstract = {In this work we introduce NarRob, a robot able to engage in conversations and tell stories, by accompanying the speech with proper gestures. We discuss about the main components of the robot's architecture, and some possible education experiments that we are planning to carry out in real scholastic contexts.},
keywords = {Bullying, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Education, Robotics, Social Practices, Storytelling Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this work we introduce NarRob, a robot able to engage in conversations and tell stories, by accompanying the speech with proper gestures. We discuss about the main components of the robot's architecture, and some possible education experiments that we are planning to carry out in real scholastic contexts.
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
NarRob: A Humanoid Social Storyteller with Emotional Expression Capabilities Proceedings Article
In: relax AV Samsonovich, (Ed.): BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURES 2018, pp. 9–15, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND, 2019, ISBN: 978-3-319-99316-4 978-3-319-99315-7.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Education, Emotion Recognition, Gestural user interfaces, Robotics, Storytelling Robots
@inproceedings{augelloNarRobHumanoidSocial2019,
title = {NarRob: A Humanoid Social Storyteller with Emotional Expression Capabilities},
author = { Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
editor = { {relax AV} Samsonovich},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-99316-4_2},
isbn = {978-3-319-99316-4 978-3-319-99315-7},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURES 2018},
volume = {848},
pages = {9--15},
publisher = {SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG},
address = {GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND},
series = {Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing},
abstract = {In this paper we propose a model of a robotic storyteller, focusing on its abilities to select the most appropriate gestures to accompany the story, trying to manifest also emotions related to the sentence that is being told. The robot is endowed with a repository of stories together with a set of gestures, inspired by those typically used by humans, that the robot learns by observation. The gestures are annotated by a number N of subjects, according to their particular meaning and considering a specific typology. They are exploited by the robot according to the story content to provide an engaging representation of the tale.},
keywords = {Education, Emotion Recognition, Gestural user interfaces, Robotics, Storytelling Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper we propose a model of a robotic storyteller, focusing on its abilities to select the most appropriate gestures to accompany the story, trying to manifest also emotions related to the sentence that is being told. The robot is endowed with a repository of stories together with a set of gestures, inspired by those typically used by humans, that the robot learns by observation. The gestures are annotated by a number N of subjects, according to their particular meaning and considering a specific typology. They are exploited by the robot according to the story content to provide an engaging representation of the tale.
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
NarRob: A Humanoid Social Storyteller with Emotional Expression Capabilities Proceedings Article
In: Samsonovich, AV (Ed.): BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURES 2018, pp. 9–15, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND, 2019, ISBN: 978-3-319-99316-4 978-3-319-99315-7.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Education, Emotion Recognition, Gestural user interfaces, Robotics, Storytelling Robots
@inproceedings{augello_narrob_2019,
title = {NarRob: A Humanoid Social Storyteller with Emotional Expression Capabilities},
author = {Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
editor = {AV Samsonovich},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-99316-4_2},
isbn = {978-3-319-99316-4 978-3-319-99315-7},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURES 2018},
volume = {848},
pages = {9–15},
publisher = {SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG},
address = {GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND},
series = {Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing},
abstract = {In this paper we propose a model of a robotic storyteller, focusing on its abilities to select the most appropriate gestures to accompany the story, trying to manifest also emotions related to the sentence that is being told. The robot is endowed with a repository of stories together with a set of gestures, inspired by those typically used by humans, that the robot learns by observation. The gestures are annotated by a number N of subjects, according to their particular meaning and considering a specific typology. They are exploited by the robot according to the story content to provide an engaging representation of the tale.},
keywords = {Education, Emotion Recognition, Gestural user interfaces, Robotics, Storytelling Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this paper we propose a model of a robotic storyteller, focusing on its abilities to select the most appropriate gestures to accompany the story, trying to manifest also emotions related to the sentence that is being told. The robot is endowed with a repository of stories together with a set of gestures, inspired by those typically used by humans, that the robot learns by observation. The gestures are annotated by a number N of subjects, according to their particular meaning and considering a specific typology. They are exploited by the robot according to the story content to provide an engaging representation of the tale.
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
Introducing NarRob, a Robotic Storyteller Proceedings Article
In: Gentile, M; Allegra, M; Sobke, H (Ed.): GAMES AND LEARNING ALLIANCE, GALA 2018, pp. 387–396, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND, 2019, ISBN: 978-3-030-11548-7 978-3-030-11547-0.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Bullying, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Education, Robotics, Social Practices, Storytelling Robots
@inproceedings{augello_introducing_2019,
title = {Introducing NarRob, a Robotic Storyteller},
author = {Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
editor = {M Gentile and M Allegra and H Sobke},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-11548-7_36},
isbn = {978-3-030-11548-7 978-3-030-11547-0},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-01},
booktitle = {GAMES AND LEARNING ALLIANCE, GALA 2018},
volume = {11385},
pages = {387–396},
publisher = {SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG},
address = {GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND},
series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science},
abstract = {In this work we introduce NarRob, a robot able to engage in conversations and tell stories, by accompanying the speech with proper gestures. We discuss about the main components of the robot's architecture, and some possible education experiments that we are planning to carry out in real scholastic contexts.},
keywords = {Bullying, Chatbots, Conversational Agents, Education, Robotics, Social Practices, Storytelling Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
In this work we introduce NarRob, a robot able to engage in conversations and tell stories, by accompanying the speech with proper gestures. We discuss about the main components of the robot's architecture, and some possible education experiments that we are planning to carry out in real scholastic contexts.