projects

The goal of this research project is to analyse the emotional cues detected by children during collaborative play with a small humanoid robot. Emotions can be expressed through various modalities. Non-verbal cues (body movements and facial expressions), in particular, facilitate the understanding of an agent's emotional state. More in general, the recognition of emotions is considered to depend on the availability of emotional cues. The body movements and facial expressions of the robot could thus impact the processes of attributing its emotional state for children with typical development as well as for children with neurobehavioral disorders.

Our objective is twofold:

• To determine the relative contributions of two types of non-verbal communication cues: facial and body cues, during children's recognition of the emotional state (joy and sadness/disappointment) of a humanoid robot;

• To assess the impact of individual differences, especially in terms of sensory profiles, on the preference for body or facial cues when recognizing emotions expressed by the robot;

• To explore the correlation between emotion recognition and action preparation. Particularly by studying the potential impact of recognizing emotional expressions (happiness and sadness) of a robot on the child's approach or avoidance behavioral attitudes towards the robot.

The results of this study  will enable :

• A deeper understandings of human-humanoid interaction processes, offering the opportunity to improve robots as devices to support children activities;

• A better adaptation of robot behaviors during an interactive rehabilitation activities with children with neurobehavioral disorders, taking into account factors related to the robot and factors related to the individual.

Role: Principal Investigator

Lifetime: 2022-2024