Reinhard Moratz†, Thora Tenbrink‡
Transregional Collaborative Research Center “Spatial Cognition”
†Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics
‡Faculty of Linguistics and Literary Sciences
University of Bremen
The aim of our research is to enable spontaneous and efficient spatial reference to objects in human-robot interaction situations. This paper presents the iterative, empirically based design of a robotic system that uses a computational model for identifying objects on the basis of a range of spatial reference systems. The efficiency of the system is evaluated by two successive empirical studies involving uninformed users. The linguistic analysis points to the striking variability in speakers’ spontaneous strategies and preferences, and it motivates a number of modifications of the computational model.
Keywords: Spatial Reference Systems, Human-Robot Interaction, Natural Language Interfaces