Young Researchers in HRI Workshop 2006: Contemplating the future of human–robot interaction

The first Young Researchers in Human–Robot Interaction Workshop, held on March 1, 2006 in Salt Lake City, Utah, provides insight into how to facilitate the establishment of the HRI community. Organized in conjunction with the first annual ACM/IEEE Human Robot Interaction Conference, the NSF-sponsored workshop assembled 15 graduate students from 5 different countries in computer science, psychology, engineering, and the arts to build the HRI community. This report highlights recommendations from discussion sessions, a synopsis of the plenary address, and representative examples of the participants’ presentations. Participants emphasized that HRI is a unique field, requiring knowledge in computing, psychology, and communications despite the differences in the courses, methods, and philosophies across disciplines. The following are needed for future growth in HRI: (i) stable, canonical robotics platforms for research purposes, (ii) a multidisciplinary community infrastructure to connect researchers, and (iii) a “Berlitz phrasebook” and collected reference materials for helping understand the “other” disciplines.