WORKSHOP: Bridging the Gap: An NSF Workshop on Conversational Agents and Human-Robot Interaction

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This award funds participation of researchers in a 2-day workshop to be held in Washington, D.C. entitled "Bridging the Gap: An NSF Workshop on Conversational Agents and Human-Robot Interaction". Recent technical advances have led to increased development and adoption of robots and embodied conversational agents in a variety of domains and contexts. As these agents and robots become increasingly ubiquitous in everyday life, it will become essential for researchers and designers of both robots and agents to understand the common challenges and opportunities for collaboration between humans and nonhuman agents. This award funds the attendance of researchers in the fields of embodied conversational agents and human-robot interaction for a workshop to lay the groundwork for a shared research agenda across both fields. The workshop involves keynote speakers commenting on the state of each field with panelists from the other, breakout sessions for discussion of crosscutting themes of common interest, and the development of a shared research agenda to identify current grand challenges and opportunities for productive collaboration between the fields of embodied conversational agents and human-robot interaction. The broad themes discussed include the challenges of embodiment (physical or virtual), coordination in mixed human-agent teams, social and affective dynamics of human-agent collaboration, control systems and learning, and the ethical implications of human-agent collaboration. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.