The Interaction Flow Editor: A New Human-Robot Interaction Rapid Prototyping Interface
This addresses the problem of inefficient and fragmented interaction design for human-robot systems, particularly for non-expert users like older adults, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing prototyping concepts.
The paper tackles the disjointed process of designing human-robot interaction flows by introducing the Interaction Flow Editor (IFE), a prototyping tool that allows everyday users, including older adults aged 70 and above, to create and modify interactions in real-time on a robot.
Human-robot interaction can be regarded as a flow between users and robots. Designing good interaction flows takes a lot of effort and needs to be field tested. Unfortunately, the interaction flow design process is often very disjointed, with users experiencing prototypes, designers forming those prototypes, and developers implementing them as independent processes. In this paper, we present the Interaction Flow Editor (IFE), a new human-robot interaction prototyping tool that enables everyday users to create and modify their own interactions, while still providing a full suite of features that is powerful enough for developers and designers to create complex interactions. We also discuss the Flow Engine, a flexible and adaptable framework for executing robot interaction flows authors through the IFE. Finally, we present our case study results that demonstrates how older adults, aged 70 and above, can design and iterate interactions in real-time on a robot using the IFE.