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 expand the Abstract, Links and BibTex record for each paper.
2023
Augello, Agnese; Gaglio, Salvatore; Infantino, Ignazio; Maniscalco, Umberto; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
Roboception and Adaptation in a Cognitive Robot Journal Article
In: Robotics and autonomous systems (Print), pp. 104400, 2023, ISSN: 0921-8890.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Cognitive Architectures, Humanoid Robots, Reinforcement Learning, Roboceptions, Sensor systems, Social Robots
@article{augelloRoboceptionAdaptationCognitive2023,
title = {Roboception and Adaptation in a Cognitive Robot},
author = { Agnese Augello and Salvatore Gaglio and Ignazio Infantino and Umberto Maniscalco and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
doi = {10.1016/j.robot.2023.104400},
issn = {0921-8890},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-01-01},
journal = {Robotics and autonomous systems (Print)},
pages = {104400},
abstract = {In robotics, perception is usually oriented at understanding what is happening in the external world, while few works pay attention to what is occurring in the robot's body. In this work, we propose an artificial somatosensory system, embedded in a cognitive architecture, that enables a robot to perceive the sensations from its embodiment while executing a task. We called these perceptions roboceptions, and they let the robot act according to its own physical needs in addition to the task demands. Physical information is processed by the robot to behave in a balanced way, determining the most appropriate trade-off between the achievement of the task and its well being. The experiments show the integration of information from the somatosensory system and the choices that lead to the accomplishment of the task.},
keywords = {Cognitive Architectures, Humanoid Robots, Reinforcement Learning, Roboceptions, Sensor systems, Social Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
In robotics, perception is usually oriented at understanding what is happening in the external world, while few works pay attention to what is occurring in the robot's body. In this work, we propose an artificial somatosensory system, embedded in a cognitive architecture, that enables a robot to perceive the sensations from its embodiment while executing a task. We called these perceptions roboceptions, and they let the robot act according to its own physical needs in addition to the task demands. Physical information is processed by the robot to behave in a balanced way, determining the most appropriate trade-off between the achievement of the task and its well being. The experiments show the integration of information from the somatosensory system and the choices that lead to the accomplishment of the task.
2022
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.
2020
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.
Augello, Agnese; Ciulla, Angelo; Cuzzocrea, Alfredo; Gaglio, Salvatore; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
A Kinect-Based Gesture Acquisition and Reproduction System for Humanoid Robots Proceedings Article
In: Gervasi, O; Murgante, B; Misra, S; Garau, C; Blecic, I; Taniar, D; relax BO Apduhan,; relax AMAC Rocha,; Tarantino, E; relax CM Torre,; Karaca, Y (Ed.): COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE AND ITS APPLICATIONS - ICCSA 2020, PT I, pp. 967–977, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND, 2020, ISBN: 978-3-030-58799-4 978-3-030-58798-7.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Gestural Interaction, Humanoid Robots, RGB-D, Social Robots
@inproceedings{augelloKinectBasedGestureAcquisition2020,
title = {A Kinect-Based Gesture Acquisition and Reproduction System for Humanoid Robots},
author = { Agnese Augello and Angelo Ciulla and Alfredo Cuzzocrea and Salvatore Gaglio and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
editor = { O Gervasi and B Murgante and S Misra and C Garau and I Blecic and D Taniar and {relax BO} Apduhan and {relax AMAC} Rocha and E Tarantino and {relax CM} Torre and Y Karaca},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-58799-4_69},
isbn = {978-3-030-58799-4 978-3-030-58798-7},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
booktitle = {COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE AND ITS APPLICATIONS - ICCSA 2020, PT I},
volume = {12249},
pages = {967--977},
publisher = {SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG},
address = {GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND},
series = {Lecture Notes in Computer Science},
abstract = {The paper illustrates a system that endows an humanoid robot with the capability to mimic the motion of a human user in real time, serving as a basis for further gesture based human-robot interactions. The described approach uses the Microsoft Kinect as a low cost alternative to expensive motion capture devices.},
keywords = {Gestural Interaction, Humanoid Robots, RGB-D, Social Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
The paper illustrates a system that endows an humanoid robot with the capability to mimic the motion of a human user in real time, serving as a basis for further gesture based human-robot interactions. The described approach uses the Microsoft Kinect as a low cost alternative to expensive motion capture devices.
Augello, Agnese; Pilato, Giovanni; Trecarichi, Gaia; Vassallo, Giorgio; Vella, Filippo
A Robotic Humanoid for Information Exploration on Cultural Heritage Domain Journal Article
In: Studies in Computational Intelligence, vol. 859, pp. 47–65, 2020, ISSN: 1860949X.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Cultural heritage, Humanoid Robots, Social Robots
@article{augelloRoboticHumanoidInformation2020,
title = {A Robotic Humanoid for Information Exploration on Cultural Heritage Domain},
author = { Agnese Augello and Giovanni Pilato and Gaia Trecarichi and Giorgio Vassallo and Filippo Vella},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-030-36107-5_3},
issn = {1860949X},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Studies in Computational Intelligence},
volume = {859},
pages = {47--65},
abstract = {The work presented here illustrates an humanoid robot capable of interacting with an human user within the Cultural Heritage domain. Two different and complementary AI approaches, namely sub-symbolic and symbolic, have been implemented and combined together to design the framework of a robot having both rational and intuitive capabilities. Furthermore, the robot is capable of providing information expressively and of adapting its behavior according to the emotional content of the artworks descriptions. This could make the robot more effective in providing information and entertaining the users. textcopyright 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.},
keywords = {Cultural heritage, Humanoid Robots, Social Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The work presented here illustrates an humanoid robot capable of interacting with an human user within the Cultural Heritage domain. Two different and complementary AI approaches, namely sub-symbolic and symbolic, have been implemented and combined together to design the framework of a robot having both rational and intuitive capabilities. Furthermore, the robot is capable of providing information expressively and of adapting its behavior according to the emotional content of the artworks descriptions. This could make the robot more effective in providing information and entertaining the users. textcopyright 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
Bono, Adriana; Augello, Agnese; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo; Gaglio, Salvatore
An ACT-R Based Humanoid Social Robot to Manage Storytelling Activities Journal Article
In: Robotics, vol. 9, no. 2, 2020, ISSN: 22186581.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: ACT-R, Cognitive Architectures, Education, Humanoid Robots, Introspective Dialogs, Social Practices, Social Robots, Storytelling Robots
@article{bonoACTRBasedHumanoid2020,
title = {An ACT-R Based Humanoid Social Robot to Manage Storytelling Activities},
author = { Adriana Bono and Agnese Augello and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella and Salvatore Gaglio},
doi = {10.3390/ROBOTICS9020025},
issn = {22186581},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-01-01},
journal = {Robotics},
volume = {9},
number = {2},
abstract = {This paper describes an interactive storytelling system, accessible through the SoftBank robotic platforms NAO and Pepper. The main contribution consists of the interpretation of the story characters by humanoid robots, obtained through the definition of appropriate cognitive models, relying on the ACT-R cognitive architecture. The reasoning processes leading to the story evolution are based on the represented knowledge and the suggestions of the listener in critical points of the story. They are disclosed during the narration, to make clear the dynamics of the story and the feelings of the characters. We analyzed the impact of such externalization of the internal status of the characters to set the basis for future experimentation with primary school children. textcopyright 2020 by the authors.},
keywords = {ACT-R, Cognitive Architectures, Education, Humanoid Robots, Introspective Dialogs, Social Practices, Social Robots, Storytelling Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This paper describes an interactive storytelling system, accessible through the SoftBank robotic platforms NAO and Pepper. The main contribution consists of the interpretation of the story characters by humanoid robots, obtained through the definition of appropriate cognitive models, relying on the ACT-R cognitive architecture. The reasoning processes leading to the story evolution are based on the represented knowledge and the suggestions of the listener in critical points of the story. They are disclosed during the narration, to make clear the dynamics of the story and the feelings of the characters. We analyzed the impact of such externalization of the internal status of the characters to set the basis for future experimentation with primary school children. textcopyright 2020 by the authors.
2018
Nuccio, Carlo; Augello, Agnese; Gaglio, Salvatore; Pilato, Giovanni
Interaction Capabilities of a Robotic Receptionist Journal Article
In: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol. 76, pp. 171–180, 2018, ISSN: 21903018.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Anthropomorphic Robots, Computational Creativity, Human computer interaction, Human Robot Interaction, Humanoid Robots, Ontologies, Robotics
@article{nuccioInteractionCapabilitiesRobotic2018,
title = {Interaction Capabilities of a Robotic Receptionist},
author = { Carlo Nuccio and Agnese Augello and Salvatore Gaglio and Giovanni Pilato},
editor = { Giuseppe De Pietro and Luigi Gallo and Robert J. Howlett and Lakhmi C. Jain},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-59480-4_18},
issn = {21903018},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-01-01},
journal = {Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies},
volume = {76},
pages = {171--180},
abstract = {A system aimed at facilitating the interaction between a human user and an humanoid robot is presented. The system is suited to answer questions about laboratories activities, people involved, projects, research themes and collaborations among employees. The task is accomplished by the HermiT reasoner invoked by a speech recognition module. The system is capable of navigating a specific ontology making inference on it. The presented system is part of a broader social robot framework whose goal is to give the user a fulfilling social interaction experience, driven by the perception of the robot internal state and involving intuitive and computational creativity capabilities. textcopyright Springer International Publishing AG 2018.},
keywords = {Anthropomorphic Robots, Computational Creativity, Human computer interaction, Human Robot Interaction, Humanoid Robots, Ontologies, Robotics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
A system aimed at facilitating the interaction between a human user and an humanoid robot is presented. The system is suited to answer questions about laboratories activities, people involved, projects, research themes and collaborations among employees. The task is accomplished by the HermiT reasoner invoked by a speech recognition module. The system is capable of navigating a specific ontology making inference on it. The presented system is part of a broader social robot framework whose goal is to give the user a fulfilling social interaction experience, driven by the perception of the robot internal state and involving intuitive and computational creativity capabilities. textcopyright Springer International Publishing AG 2018.
2016
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Manfré, Adriano; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo
Analyzing and Discussing Primary Creative Traits of a Robotic Artist Journal Article
In: Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures, vol. 17, pp. 22–31, 2016, ISSN: 2212683X.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Anthropomorphic Robots, Artificial intelligence, Cognitive Architectures, Computational Creativity, Creative Agents, Creative Process, Human computer interaction, Human Robot Interaction, Humanoid Robots, Information Management, Social Robots
@article{augelloAnalyzingDiscussingPrimary2016,
title = {Analyzing and Discussing Primary Creative Traits of a Robotic Artist},
author = { Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Adriano Manfré and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella},
doi = {10.1016/j.bica.2016.07.006},
issn = {2212683X},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
journal = {Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures},
volume = {17},
pages = {22--31},
abstract = {We present a robot aimed at producing a collage formed by a mix of photomontage and digital collage. The artwork is created after a visual and verbal interaction with a human user. The proposed system, through a cognitive architecture, allows the robot to manage the three different phases of the real-time artwork process: (i) taking inspiration from information captured during the postural and verbal interaction with the human user and from the analysis of his/her social web items; (ii) performing a creative process to obtain a model of the artwork; (iii) executing the creative collage composition and providing a significant title. The paper explains, primarily, how the creativity traits of the robot are implemented in the proposed architecture: how ideas are generated through an elaboration that is modulated by affective influences; how the personality and the artistic behavior are modeled by learning and guided by external evaluations; the motivation and the confidence evolution as a function of successes or failures. textcopyright 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.},
keywords = {Anthropomorphic Robots, Artificial intelligence, Cognitive Architectures, Computational Creativity, Creative Agents, Creative Process, Human computer interaction, Human Robot Interaction, Humanoid Robots, Information Management, Social Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
We present a robot aimed at producing a collage formed by a mix of photomontage and digital collage. The artwork is created after a visual and verbal interaction with a human user. The proposed system, through a cognitive architecture, allows the robot to manage the three different phases of the real-time artwork process: (i) taking inspiration from information captured during the postural and verbal interaction with the human user and from the analysis of his/her social web items; (ii) performing a creative process to obtain a model of the artwork; (iii) executing the creative collage composition and providing a significant title. The paper explains, primarily, how the creativity traits of the robot are implemented in the proposed architecture: how ideas are generated through an elaboration that is modulated by affective influences; how the personality and the artistic behavior are modeled by learning and guided by external evaluations; the motivation and the confidence evolution as a function of successes or failures. textcopyright 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Augello, Agnese; Infantino, Ignazio; Manfre, Adriano; Pilato, Giovanni; Vella, Filippo; Gentile, Manuel; Citta, Giuseppe; Crifaci, Giulia; Raso, Rossella; Allegra, Mario
A Personal Intelligent Coach for Smart Embodied Learning Environments Proceedings Article
In: Pietro, Giuseppe De; Gallo, Luigi; Howlett, Robert J.; Jain, Lakhmi C. (Ed.): Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems and Services 2016, pp. 629–636, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG, GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND, 2016, ISBN: 978-3-319-39345-2 978-3-319-39344-5.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: Cognitive Architectures, Education, Embodied Cognition, Humanoid Robots, Learning Environments, Social Robots
@inproceedings{augelloPersonalIntelligentCoach2016,
title = {A Personal Intelligent Coach for Smart Embodied Learning Environments},
author = { Agnese Augello and Ignazio Infantino and Adriano Manfre and Giovanni Pilato and Filippo Vella and Manuel Gentile and Giuseppe Citta and Giulia Crifaci and Rossella Raso and Mario Allegra},
editor = { Giuseppe De Pietro and Luigi Gallo and Robert J. Howlett and Lakhmi C. Jain},
doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-39345-2_56},
isbn = {978-3-319-39345-2 978-3-319-39344-5},
year = {2016},
date = {2016-01-01},
booktitle = {Intelligent Interactive Multimedia Systems and Services 2016},
volume = {55},
pages = {629--636},
publisher = {SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING AG},
address = {GEWERBESTRASSE 11, CHAM, CH-6330, SWITZERLAND},
series = {Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies},
abstract = {Within a Smart Learning Environment (SLE) learners are involved in a new learning process tailored to create a continuum of education by extending the current educational formal settings to real-life informal learning context. The goal of this paper is to describe the Cognitive Architecture (CA) of a Personal Intelligent Coach able tomanage learning tasks and interactions within a complex Smart Learning Environment (SLE). PICo has two possible embodiments: humanoid robot, and an avatar on mobile device. We argue that the proposed intelligent coach can adapt to the contents, to the students needs and can evolve its strategies according the learning process.},
keywords = {Cognitive Architectures, Education, Embodied Cognition, Humanoid Robots, Learning Environments, Social Robots},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}
Within a Smart Learning Environment (SLE) learners are involved in a new learning process tailored to create a continuum of education by extending the current educational formal settings to real-life informal learning context. The goal of this paper is to describe the Cognitive Architecture (CA) of a Personal Intelligent Coach able tomanage learning tasks and interactions within a complex Smart Learning Environment (SLE). PICo has two possible embodiments: humanoid robot, and an avatar on mobile device. We argue that the proposed intelligent coach can adapt to the contents, to the students needs and can evolve its strategies according the learning process.