Affective State Estimation for Human–Robot Interaction

D. Kulic, E.A. Croft
2007 IEEE Transactions on robotics  
In order for humans and robots to interact in an effective and intuitive manner, robots must obtain information about the human affective state in response to the robot's actions. This secondary mode of interactive communication is hypothesized to permit a more natural collaboration, similar to the "body language" interaction between two cooperating humans. This paper describes the implementation and validation of a hidden Markov model (HMM) for estimating human affective state in real time,
more » ... ng robot motions as the stimulus. Inputs to the system are physiological signals such as heart rate, perspiration rate, and facial muscle contraction. Affective state was estimated using a twodimensional valence-arousal representation. A robot manipulator was used to generate motions expected during human-robot interaction, and human subjects were asked to report their response to these motions. The human physiological response was also measured. Robot motions were generated using both a nominal potential field planner and a recently reported safe motion planner that minimizes the potential collision forces along the path. The robot motions were tested with 36 subjects. This data was used to train and validate the HMM model. The results of the HMM affective estimation are also compared to a previously implemented fuzzy inference engine. Index Terms-Affective state estimation, human-robot interac tion, physiological signals. 1552-3098/$25.00 © 2007 IEEE Dana Kulić (M'98) received the combined B.A.Sc. and M.Eng. degrees in electromechanical engineering and the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, in 1998 and 2005, respectively. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Nakamura-Japan. Her research interests include human-robot interaction, robot learning, humanoid robotics, and mechatronics. Elizabeth A. Croft (M'95) received the B.A.Sc.
doi:10.1109/tro.2007.904899 fatcat:mu4bnybwuver5aqgoo3g3j735a