Comparison of Human-Human and Human-Robot Turn-Taking Behaviour in Multiparty Situated Interaction

Abstract

In this paper, we present an experiment where two human subjects are given a team-building task to solve together with a robot. The setting requires that the speakers' attention is partly directed towards objects on the table between them, as well as to each other, in order to coordinate turn-taking. The symmetrical setup allows us to compare human-human and human-robot turn-taking behaviour in the same interactional setting. The analysis centres around the interlocutors' attention (as measured by head pose) and gap length between turns, depending on the pragmatic function of the utterances.