Human-Robot Interaction

Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is the study of interaction and collaboration between humans and robots. It is a multidisciplinary field involving contributions from artificial intelligence, robotics, human-computer interaction, foundation models, multimodal behavioural analytics, design, psychology, and philosophy. The primary goal of HRI is to create robots that can interact with humans in a safe, intuitive, and socially acceptable manner.

At CSIRO Robotics, we combine human intelligence with robot autonomy to achieve effective human-robot teaming. We focus on three main HRI capabilities:

1. Natural interface: with better understanding on human behaviours and mental models, we develop intuitive robots capable of multimodal communication, lowering the barrier of entry and allowing an operator to supervise multiple robots.
2. Learning & adaptation: with human in-the-loop and on-the-loop inputs, we develop teachable robots that evolve with dynamic environments and requirements, adjusting its autonomy and actions proactively to deliver trustworthy performance.
3. Human-centred evaluation: with user-informed performance metrics combining qualitative and quantitative methods, we develop beneficial robots that enhance human productivity and safety, delivering socially responsible outcomes.