Workshop venue: University of Lille, Campus citée scientifique
Lilliad, Cité scientifique, 2 Av. Jean Perrin, 59650 Villeneuve-d’Ascq (map)
Haptic interfaces play a crucial role in enriching human collaboration and interaction with artificial systems. The pursuit of realism and immersion has motivated researchers to develop technologies that deliver cutaneous and kinesthetic cues in a natural and effective manner. This technological advancement has been accompanied by a deepening understanding of the neurophysiological aspects of human touch, as novel haptic devices offer the dual opportunity to advance both technology and scientific knowledge. On one front, there is a demand for interfaces with improved wearability, ergonomics, and intuitiveness, driving the prototyping of new actuation and sensing systems such as pneumatic, textile, and shape-memory alloys, alongside the adoption of innovative materials and mechanical structures including soft materials and origami-inspired designs. Simultaneously, numerous high-fidelity, reliable, and accurate devices have been developed specifically to facilitate the study of human perception and discrimination of haptic stimuli within the context of human-robot interaction.
This workshop stems from the recognition that haptic technologies hold great potential for enhancing collaboration between humans and artificial systems. With the proliferation of collaborative robots and AI-based assistants, there is an opportunity to leverage haptic interfaces to establish new paradigms of human-robot (physical) communication, beyond standard audiovisual means. Drawing inspiration from human-to-human communication, this workshop aims to explore how haptic technologies can be integrated into human-robot and human-avatar interaction to foster a dual-level connection encompassing both emotional and informational aspects. Haptics, traditionally associated with mere force rendering in robotic teleoperation, now emerges as a pivotal tool for enabling robots to convey task-related information while fostering an emotional rapport with human collaborators.
Heather Culbertson, Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California, US.
Gijs Huisman, Assistant Professor of Embodied Interaction, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Technical University of Delft, Netherlands.
Ege Cansev, PhD Student, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
Philipp Beckerle, Full Professor, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
Federico Carpi, Associate Professor, University of Florence, Italy.
Domenico Prattichizzo, Full Professor of Robotics and Haptics, University of Siena, Italy.
Claudio Pacchierotti, Researcher, IRISA-CNRS, Rennes, France.
Roberto Meattini, Assistant Professor, University of Bologna, Italy.
Giorgio Cannata, Full Professor of Robotics and Automation, University of Genova, Italy
09:00 - 09:10: Welcome and presentation of the Workshop objectives and research questions by organizers
09:10 - 10:30: SESSION 1: Interfaces for eliciting haptic sensations and emotions
09:10 - 09:30: Keynote by Heather Culbertson - "Emotion Perception in Mediated Social Touch"
09:30 - 09:50: Keynote by Gijs Huisman - “Enacting Presence”
09:50 - 10:10: Keynote by Ege Cansev and Philipp Beckerle - "Pushing human-agent communication through touch: affective haptics and embodiment"
10:10 - 10:30: Keynote by Federico Carpi - "Wearable pneumatic tactile display to render the softness of virtual reality objects."
10:30 - 11:00: Coffee Break
11:00 - 12:00: SESSION 2: On-going EU projects on teleoperation, collaborative and assistive robotics
11:00 - 11:15: Domenico Prattichizzo - “HARIA: Human-Robot Sensorimotor Augmentation”
11:15 - 11:30: Claudio Pacchierotti - “RĔGO: Cognitive robotic tools for human-centered small-scale multi-robot operations”
11:30 - 11:45: Roberto Meattini - “IntelliMan: AI-Powered Manipulation System for Advanced Robotic Service, Manufacturing and Prosthetics”
11:45 - 12:00: Giorgio Cannata - “Sestosenso: Physical Cognition for Intelligent Control and Safe Human-Robot Interaction”
12:00 - 12:30: Round table with invited speakers
University of Siena, Siena, Italy, and Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy.
University of Siena, Siena, Italy, and Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy.
University of Siena, Siena, Italy, and Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy.
IRISA-CNRS, Rennes, France.