Empowering Human Interaction: A Socially Assistive Robot for Support in Trade Shows

Abstract

Social robots are increasingly finding applications in sectors such as industry, retail, and healthcare. They employ a combination of verbal and non-verbal cues in order to allow an empathetic and efficient interaction with the humans. In contrast to traditional robots, social robots possess contextual awareness, enabling intelligent responses to human interactions. Within this context, in this paper we propose a framework for social robots, integrating advanced audio and video analytics capabilities with a novel engagement algorithm, designed and developed to facilitate effective communication in multi-user settings. Furthermore, other than conversation skills, the proposed social robot is enhanced with the capability to interactively play games with the human. The effectiveness of the proposed system was tested in real-world scenarios, during two trade shows in Italy, providing valuable insights into its performance and adaptability to different contexts and different audiences.