TY - GEN
T1 - To Cross or Not-to-Cross
T2 - 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2023
AU - Kumaran, Srivatsan Chakravarthi
AU - Oberlender, Agam
AU - Grishko, Andrey
AU - Megidish, Benny
AU - Erel, Hadas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 IEEE.
PY - 2023/1/1
Y1 - 2023/1/1
N2 - A main challenge in incorporating autonomous vehicles into urban environments concerns communication with pedestrians crossing in front of them. We introduce a robotic object for facilitating natural crossing interactions by leveraging pedestrians' existing crossing habits. The robot was designed to fit on the vehicle's dashboard and simulate head gestures to indicate if it is safe to cross. We evaluated the perception of the robot as mediating the AV's communication and the comprehension of its gestures, in an in-person experiment. Participants were asked to cross the road in front of a vehicle that was presented as having autonomous driving capabilities. The robot was placed on the vehicle's dashboard in a location where pedestrians habitually look. The results indicated that when asked to cross, participants immediately looked toward the driver's seat and easily noticed the robot. They consistently categorized the robot's gestures into 'cross' or 'do-not-cross' categories and reported a strong sense of safety. Our findings suggest that robotic objects are a promising technology for mediating natural pedestrian-AV communication.
AB - A main challenge in incorporating autonomous vehicles into urban environments concerns communication with pedestrians crossing in front of them. We introduce a robotic object for facilitating natural crossing interactions by leveraging pedestrians' existing crossing habits. The robot was designed to fit on the vehicle's dashboard and simulate head gestures to indicate if it is safe to cross. We evaluated the perception of the robot as mediating the AV's communication and the comprehension of its gestures, in an in-person experiment. Participants were asked to cross the road in front of a vehicle that was presented as having autonomous driving capabilities. The robot was placed on the vehicle's dashboard in a location where pedestrians habitually look. The results indicated that when asked to cross, participants immediately looked toward the driver's seat and easily noticed the robot. They consistently categorized the robot's gestures into 'cross' or 'do-not-cross' categories and reported a strong sense of safety. Our findings suggest that robotic objects are a promising technology for mediating natural pedestrian-AV communication.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85186983938&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/RO-MAN57019.2023.10309309
DO - 10.1109/RO-MAN57019.2023.10309309
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85186983938
T3 - IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Communication, RO-MAN
SP - 285
EP - 292
BT - 2023 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2023
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Y2 - 28 August 2023 through 31 August 2023
ER -