T. Hashimoto, N. Kato, and H. Kobayashi (Japan)
android robot, remote class system, educational robot,field trial, human-robot interaction.
Android robots that have a human-like appearance have been developed recently. One of the purposes of android robots is to realize natural communication between humans and robots by performing human-like behaviors. We have been also developing an android-type communication robot SAYA equipped with the face robot that can express facial expressions, because facial expressions play most important role in face-to-face communication as a non-verbal medium. This paper shows an application of the android robot SAYA in an educational field as an interface of remote class support systems. In this system, SAYA plays a role of a teacher, and can conduct a science class (lecture) concerning the principle of leverage. SAYA is also able to talk with students and make eye-contact by remote control during the class. At the same time, the operator can monitor students’ behaviors and utterances remotely. We carried out the field trial at elementary schools to verify the effectiveness of the remote class support system with SAYA by comparing it with other systems. As a result, we confirmed its positive effects and possibility in elementary schools.
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