Museum guide robot with three communication modes

Abstract

Nonverbal behavior plays an important role in human communication. In this paper, we propose a novel museum guide robot that has three different types of communication modes (autonomous, remote-control, and remote-interactive), which are integrated to interact with visitors through nonverbal behavior. First, the autonomous mode is an autonomously controlled mode in which the robot can directly interact with visitors through nonverbal behaviors such as head movements or arm gestures. Second, when a visitor begins to ask the robot questions, the communication is changed into a remote-control mode. In this mode, a remote operator controls the robot with gestures to interact with visitors. Third, in the remote-interactive mode, a remote operator can also interact with the robot with voice and gestures through a network. In particular, the remote operator can ask the robot to do something with nonverbal behaviors such as pointing while saying, “Bring this brochure to him.” These three communication modes are switched seamlessly depending on the situation.