Concept of Humatronics and its Application to Human-Robot Communication Support Under TV Watching Environment

Abstract

In recent years, various systems based on electronics, such as cars, computers and robots have been getting into our daily life. Unfortunately, asymmetrical relationship exists between human and such systems, imposing burdens especially on elderly or handicapped persons. In order to solve various problems for balancing such asymmetrical relationship, humatronics is proposed. Main purpose of humatronics is to establish the symmetric interaction between human and electronic systems by giving the systems the capability of understanding humans. Another important factor for humatronics is computer networks, over which the systems can share knowledge, information, and experiences. This paper introduces the concept of humatronics and its future direction. A prototype of partner robot system, called HuRoC, is also proposed as an application of humatronics concept. It is expected that the concept of humatronics will progress the related research fields by bringing a new viewpoint.