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https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-3794/Preface.pdf
Preface for the 1st Edition of the International Robots for Humans (RfH)
Workshop
FRANCESCA COCCHELLA
Italian Institute of Technology, University of Genoa francesca.cocchella@iit.it
OMAR ELDARDEER
Italian Institute of Technology, omar.eldardeer@iit.it
MARCO MANCA
Institute of Information Science and Technologies "Alessandro Faedo" - National Research Council of Italy,
marco.manca@isti.cnr.it
MARCO MATARESE
Italian Institute of Technology, University of Naples Parthenope, marco.matarese@iit.it
ANDREA REZZANI
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, anrezzani@unibz.it
ELEONORA ZEDDA
Institute of Information Science and Technologies "Alessandro Faedo" - National Research Council of Italy,,
eleonora.zedda@isti.cnr.it
In recent years, the research field of Human-Robot Interaction has become crucial to
understanding and designing the technological future. New methods and approaches in this field
are urgently needed to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing landscape. In this workshop,
we proposed that the intersection between Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Human-
Robot Interaction (HRI) offers methodological opportunities while highlighting the new
challenges that robot integration into society will face. In this perspective, humans bridge
society, computers, and robots. Thus, the workshop proposed reflections on how embracing a
human-centred design approach can help prioritise people's empowerment in society and
collaborate with robots.
This CEUR-WS volume contains the proceedings of the first edition of the Robots for Humans
(RfH) Workshop. The workshop was held on Jun 3rd, 2024, in Arenzano (Italy) during the 17th
edition of the Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI 2024
https://avi2024.dibris.unige.it/home). It receives contributions from authors from countries such
as Italy, Germany and Israel.
The contributions of the 1st edition of the Robots for Humans (RfH) Workshop explore
different topics that cross technical and social challenges of the field. Twelve papers were
submitted, and each paper received two reviews. Nine papers were accepted and presented at the
workshop, while eight were accepted for publication. All papers are short papers and propose
reflections from technical and social perspectives. From a technical perspective, the workshop
papers propose insights on how to use cognitive architecture for a dynamic person model
[Sievers], the theme of personalisation of humanoid robots through natural language models
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CEUR
ceur-ws.org
Workshop ISSN 1613-0073
Proceedings
[Gallo], the use of Fuzzy Q-learning for robot behaviours adaptation in cognitive serious game
scenarios [Zedda]. From a social perspective, the workshop elaborates on how the design of
robots influences the phenomenon of loneliness [Horstmann], the challenges of using robots for
last-mile delivery tasks in uncontrolled settings [Grimberg], the relationship between empathy
and attribution of mental states [Lillo], the adoption of robots in cognitive training among older
adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment [Catricalà], and reflections on help-aversion in robotic
assistive training [Ruggiero].
The workshop program combined these perspectives in two sessions - Robots for Social
Interactions and Robots for Training - according to the topics proposed by each contribution.
Following their presentations, participants were invited to reflect on how social and technical
challenges are interconnected in this domain. We split the workshop participants into two
groups to reflect on such perspectives. To open the discussion, we proposed the following
questions: “What are the advantages of focusing on social/technical aspects in RfH, the main
challenges emerging from focusing on social/technical aspects, the risks of focusing only on
social/technical aspects in RfH?”. A debate followed in which delegations from both groups had
to advocate for their own group’s arguments. The debate highlighted that the starting
perspectives are profoundly intertwined and impossible to address singularly. As the discussion
outcome, both groups agreed that social needs are crucial to the design of robots. However,
focusing primarily on social needs risks neglecting technological limitations and constraining
technological advancements in exploratory phases. On the other hand, focusing only on
technical aspects risks developing useless devices that lack the application of robots in real-world
environments and reproducing social biases.
The workshop included the keynote from Dr Giulia Perugia, Associate Professor at the
Human-Technology Interaction Group of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e,
Netherlands), “Of Robots and Stereotypes: The Case of Gender in Humanoid Robots”. During the
presentation, the keynote speaker argued that robots as artefacts are often created by adopting a
human-like design approach to facilitate interaction. However, this approach also brings social
stereotypes and biases, especially concerning gender [Perugia]. Overall, five experimental studies
have been proposed to foster discussion on how the design of robots should consider a more
diverse and inclusive approach. The workshop also included a short presentation by Dr Omar
Eldardeer about the EU H2020-founded project “Value Of Joint EXperimentation in Digital
Technologies for Manufacturing and Construction Sectors (VOJEXT)”. The project aims at
producing a technical architecture for mobile robotic systems that fit different applications. The
presentation summarized the project and its outcomes and highlighted the importance of driving
the research forward to real-world application and the kinds of requirements the industry needs
to integrate social interactive robots in their processes.
In conclusion, RfH 2024 had a good number of 21 participants, which led to interesting
discussions, demonstrating collaborative efforts between HCI and HRI. The workshop
highlighted how an interdisciplinary approach may overcome the limits associated with social
and technical perspectives. Further efforts are needed to achieve multidisciplinary collaborations.
Future editions of the workshop will aim to explore the challenges of this evolving field, also
considering the considerable spread of AI technologies. We would like to thank everyone who
made this event possible, including the authors of the papers, the reviewers, and the invited
speaker. Special thanks to the organisers of AVI 2024 for kindly hosting the workshop.
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PC members
Giulia Pusceddu Italian Institute of Technology and University of
Genoa
Andrea Mattioli HIIS ISTI CNR
Marco Gabriele Fedozzi Italian Institute of Technology and University of
Genoa
Eleonora Zedda HIIS ISTI CNR
Marco Matarese Italian Institute of Technology and University of
Naples Parthenope
Francesca Cocchella Italian Institute of Technology and University
of Genoa
Andrea Rezzani Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
Marco Manca HIIS ISTI CNR
Omar Eldardeer Italian Institute of Technology
Laura Triglia Italian Institute of Technology and University of Genoa
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