Human-Robot Interaction

The role of robots in society keeps expanding and diversifying, bringing with it a host of issues surrounding the relationship between robots and humans. This introduction to Human–Robot Interaction (HRI) provides a broad overview of the multidisciplinary topics central to modern HRI research. Students and researchers from robotics, computer science, psychology, sociology, and design will find it a concise and accessible guide to the current state of the field. This certificate presents all the relevant background concepts; describing how robots work, how to design them, and how to evaluate their performance. We will cover important design decisions, such as the social robots’ level of anthropomorphism. Furthermore, we will work through several interaction modalities, such as spatial interaction, non-verbal interaction, verbal interaction and emotions. The role that robots may play in our society will be discussed and real world application areas, such as learning, healthcare, personal assistants, and transport will be investigated. Students will receive access to an open access textbook during the course and can subscribe to an active podcast for bonus content.

Courses under this program:
Course 1: Introduction to Human-Robot Interaction

Discover the basic concepts of human-robot interaction and how robots work. Learn how to design a human-robot interaction and different ways in which users can interact with robots.

Course 2: Methods and Application in Human-Robot Interaction

Explore the two interaction modalities between humans and robots: verbal and emotional. Learn how to setup a study to evaluate the quality of the interaction from both, the robot’s and the human’s perspectives. Discover application areas for robots and what their role in the future society might be.