Title: Perceived Social Intelligence in Autonomous Robots: Evaluating Communicative Behaviors in Social Navigation Tasks
Abstract: This study investigates how robots’ communicative behaviors influence human perceptions of social intelligence, particularly in public social navigation contexts. Given the growing presence of robots in shared human spaces, it is critical to understand how humans perceive and react to robots in incidental encounters with robots. This research focuses on how robot communicative behavior design interventions such as gaze and showing trajectory can improve perceived social intelligence during robot navigation tasks. A three-stage study is proposed to assess the impacts of robot communicative behavior interventions on perceived social intelligence, exploring successful and unsuccessful navigation interactions through video-based online and real-world tests. The study aims to contribute to designing socially intelligent robots capable of navigating human spaces effectively and naturally.
Committee members: Dr. Elliott Hauser (chair), Dr. Jacek Gwizdka, Dr. Stephen Slota, Dr. Nikolas Martelaro (Carnegie Mellon University)