Kamikubo Rie, Kayukawa Seita, Kaniwa Yuka, Wang Allan, Kacorri Hernisa, Takagi Hironobu, Asakawa Chieko
University of Maryland, College Park Maryland, United States IBM Research - Tokyo Tokyo, Japan.
IBM Research - Tokyo Tokyo, Japan.
Proc SIGCHI Conf Hum Factor Comput Syst. 2025;2025. doi: 10.1145/3706598.3714112.
Autonomous navigation robots can increase the independence of blind people but often limit user control-following what is called in Japanese an "omakase" approach where decisions are left to the robot. This research investigates ways to enhance user control in social robot navigation, based on two studies conducted with blind participants. The first study, involving structured interviews (N=14), identified crowded spaces as key areas with significant social challenges. The second study (N=13) explored navigation tasks with an autonomous robot in these environments and identified design strategies across different modes of autonomy. Participants preferred an active role, termed the "boss" mode, where they managed crowd interactions, while the "monitor" mode helped them assess the environment, negotiate movements, and interact with the robot. These findings highlight the importance of shared control and user involvement for blind users, offering valuable insights for designing future social navigation robots.
自主导航机器人可以提高盲人的独立性，但通常会限制用户的控制权——这在日语中被称为“おまかせ”方式，即把决定权交给机器人。这项研究基于对盲人参与者进行的两项研究，探讨了增强社交机器人导航中用户控制权的方法。第一项研究包括结构化访谈（N = 14），将拥挤空间确定为存在重大社交挑战的关键区域。第二项研究（N = 13）在这些环境中使用自主机器人探索导航任务，并确定了不同自主模式下的设计策略。参与者更喜欢积极参与的角色，即所谓的“老板”模式，在这种模式下他们管理与人群的互动，而“监控”模式则帮助他们评估环境、协商行动以及与机器人互动。这些发现凸显了共享控制和用户参与对盲人用户的重要性，为未来社交导航机器人的设计提供了宝贵的见解。
