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1. Towards Deep Reasoning on Social Rules for Socially Aware Navigation

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3434074.3447225  

   Salek Shahrezaie, Roya ; Banisetty, Santosh Balajee ; Mohammadi, Mohammadmahdi ; Feil-Seifer, David ( March 2021 , HRI '21 Companion: Companion of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction)

   null (Ed.)

   This work presents ideation and preliminary results of using contextual information and information of the objects present in the scene to query applicable social navigation rules for the sensed context. Prior work in socially-Aware Navigation (SAN) shows its importance in human-robot interaction as it improves the interaction quality, safety and comfort of the interacting partner. In this work, we are interested in automatic detection of social rules in SAN and we present three major components of our method, namely: a Convolutional Neural Network-based context classifier that can autonomously perceive contextual information using camera input; a YOLO-based object detection to localize objects with a scene; and a knowledge base of social rules relationships with the concepts to query them using both contextual and detected objects in the scene. Our preliminary results suggest that our approach can observe an on-going interaction, given an image input, and use that information to query the social navigation rules required in that particular context. 

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2. Advancing Socially-Aware Navigation for Public Spaces

   https://doi.org/10.1109/RO-MAN53752.2022.9900653  

   Salek Shahrezaie, Roya ; Manalo, Bethany N. ; Brantley, Aaron G. ; Lynch, Casey R. ; Feil-Seifer, David ( August 2022 , IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN))

   Mobile robots must navigate efficiently, reliably, and appropriately around people when acting in shared social environments. For robots to be accepted in such environments, we explore robot navigation for the social contexts of each setting. Navigating through dynamic environments solely considering a collision-free path has long been solved. In human-robot environments, the challenge is no longer about efficiently navigating from one point to another. Autonomously detecting the context and adapting to an appropriate social navigation strategy is vital for social robots’ long-term applicability in dense human environments. As complex social environments, museums are suitable for studying such behavior as they have many different navigation contexts in a small space.Our prior Socially-Aware Navigation model considered con-text classification, object detection, and pre-defined rules to define navigation behavior in more specific contexts, such as a hallway or queue. This work uses environmental context, object information, and more realistic interaction rules for complex social spaces. In the first part of the project, we convert real-world interactions into algorithmic rules for use in a robot’s navigation system. Moreover, we use context recognition, object detection, and scene data for context-appropriate rule selection. We introduce our methodology of studying social behaviors in complex contexts, different analyses of our text corpus for museums, and the presentation of extracted social norms. Finally, we demonstrate applying some of the rules in scenarios in the simulation environment. 

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3. Augmented reality head-up displays effect on drivers’ spatial knowledge acquisition

   https://doi.org/10.1177/1071181319631287  

   de Oliveira Faria, Nayara ; Kandil, Dina ; Gabbard, Joseph L. ( November 2019 , Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting)

   Background: Drivers gather most of the information they need to drive by looking at the world around them and at visual displays within the vehicle. Navigation systems automate the way drivers navigate. In using these systems, drivers offload both tactical (route following) and strategic aspects (route planning) of navigational tasks to the automated SatNav system, freeing up cognitive and attentional resources that can be used in other tasks (Burnett, 2009). Despite the potential benefits and opportunities that navigation systems provide, their use can also be problematic. For example, research suggests that drivers using SatNav do not develop as much environmental spatial knowledge as drivers using paper maps (Waters & Winter, 2011; Parush, Ahuvia, & Erev, 2007). With recent growth and advances of augmented reality (AR) head-up displays (HUDs), there are new opportunities to display navigation information directly within a driver’s forward field of view, allowing them to gather information needed to navigate without looking away from the road. While the technology is promising, the nuances of interface design and its impacts on drivers must be further understood before AR can be widely and safely incorporated into vehicles. Specifically, an impact that warrants investigation is the role of AR HUDS in spatial knowledge acquisition while driving. Acquiring high levels of spatial knowledge is crucial for navigation tasks because individuals who have greater levels of spatial knowledge acquisition are more capable of navigating based on their own internal knowledge (Bolton, Burnett, & Large, 2015). Moreover, the ability to develop an accurate and comprehensive cognitive map acts as a social function in which individuals are able to navigate for others, provide verbal directions and sketch direction maps (Hill, 1987). Given these points, the relationship between spatial knowledge acquisition and novel technologies such as AR HUDs in driving is a relevant topic for investigation. Objectives: This work explored whether providing conformal AR navigational cues improves spatial knowledge acquisition (as compared to traditional HUD visual cues) to assess the plausibility and justification for investment in generating larger FOV AR HUDs with potentially multiple focal planes. Methods: This study employed a 2x2 between-subjects design in which twenty-four participants were counterbalanced by gender. We used a fixed base, medium fidelity driving simulator for where participants drove while navigating with one of two possible HUD interface designs: a world-relative arrow post sign and a screen-relative traditional arrow. During the 10-15 minute drive, participants drove the route and were encouraged to verbally share feedback as they proceeded. After the drive, participants completed a NASA-TLX questionnaire to record their perceived workload. We measured spatial knowledge at two levels: landmark and route knowledge. Landmark knowledge was assessed using an iconic recognition task, while route knowledge was assessed using a scene ordering task. After completion of the study, individuals signed a post-trial consent form and were compensated $10 for their time. Results: NASA-TLX performance subscale ratings revealed that participants felt that they performed better during the world-relative condition but at a higher rate of perceived workload. However, in terms of perceived workload, results suggest there is no significant difference between interface design conditions. Landmark knowledge results suggest that the mean number of remembered scenes among both conditions is statistically similar, indicating participants using both interface designs remembered the same proportion of on-route scenes. Deviance analysis show that only maneuver direction had an influence on landmark knowledge testing performance. Route knowledge results suggest that the proportion of scenes on-route which were correctly sequenced by participants is similar under both conditions. Finally, participants exhibited poorer performance in the route knowledge task as compared to landmark knowledge task (independent of HUD interface design). Conclusions: This study described a driving simulator study which evaluated the head-up provision of two types of AR navigation interface designs. The world-relative condition placed an artificial post sign at the corner of an approaching intersection containing a real landmark. The screen-relative condition displayed turn directions using a screen-fixed traditional arrow located directly ahead of the participant on the right or left side on the HUD. Overall results of this initial study provide evidence that the use of both screen-relative and world-relative AR head-up display interfaces have similar impact on spatial knowledge acquisition and perceived workload while driving. These results contrast a common perspective in the AR community that conformal, world-relative graphics are inherently more effective. This study instead suggests that simple, screen-fixed designs may indeed be effective in certain contexts. 

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4. Synthesizing scene-aware virtual reality teleport graphs

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3478513.3480478  

   Li, Changyang ; Huang, Haikun ; Lien, Jyh-Ming ; Yu, Lap-Fai ( December 2021 , ACM Transactions on Graphics)

   We present a novel approach for synthesizing scene-aware virtual reality teleport graphs, which facilitate navigation in indoor virtual environments by suggesting desirable teleport positions. Our approach analyzes panoramic views at candidate teleport positions by extracting scene perception graphs, which encode scene perception relationships between the observer and the surrounding objects, and predict how desirable the views at these positions are. We train a graph convolutional model to predict the scene perception scores of different teleport positions. Based on such predictions, we apply an optimization approach to sample a set of desirable teleport positions while considering other navigation properties such as coverage and connectivity to synthesize a teleport graph. Using teleport graphs, users can navigate virtual environments efficaciously. We demonstrate our approach for synthesizing teleport graphs for common indoor scenes. By conducting a user study, we validate the efficacy and desirability of navigating virtual environments via the synthesized teleport graphs. We also extend our approach to cope with different constraints, user preferences, and practical scenarios. 

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5. Perceptions of Conversational Group Membership based on Robots' Spatial Positioning: Effects of Embodiment

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3434074.3447195  

   Connolly, Joe ; Tsoi, Nathan ; Vázquez, Marynel ( March 2021 , Companion of the 2021 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction)

   null (Ed.)

   Robots' spatial positioning is a useful communication modality in social interactions. For example, in the context of group conversations, certain types of positioning signal membership to the group interaction. How does robot embodiment influence these perceptions? To investigate this question, we conducted an online study in which participants observed renderings of several robots in a social environment, and judged whether the robots were positioned to take part in a group conversation with other humans in the scene. Our results suggest that robot embodiment can influence perceptions of conversational group membership. An important factor to consider in this regard is whether robot embodiment leads to a discernible orientation for the agent. 

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