Henrik Schärfe

Aalborg University · Department of Communication and Psychology

This paper presents the results of a field-experiment focused on the head orientation behavior of users in short-term dyadic interactions with an android (male) robot in a playful context, as well as on the duration of the interactions. The robotic trials took place in an art exhibition where visitors approached the robot either in groups, or alone...

Expectation and intention understanding through nonverbal behavior is a key topic of interest in socially embedded robots. This study presents the results of an open-ended evaluation method pertaining to the interpretation of Android facial expressions by adult subjects through an online survey with video stimuli. An open-ended question yields more...

Using their face as their prior affective interface, android robots and other agents embody emotional facial expressions, and convey messages on their identity, gender, age, race, and attractiveness. We are examining whether androids can convey emotionally relevant information via their static facial signals, just as humans do. Based on the fact th...

Humans have adjusted their space, their actions, and their performed tasks according to their morphology, abilities, and limitations. Thus, the properties of a social robot should fit within these predetermined boundaries when, and if it is beneficial for the user, and the notion of the task. On such occasions, android and humanoid hand models shou...

The topic of human robot interaction (HRI) is an important part of human computer interaction (HCI). Robots are more and more used in a social context, and in this paper we try to formulate a research agenda concerning ethical issues around social HRI in order to be prepared for future scenarios where robots may be a naturally integrated part of hu...

Our society is on the borderline of information era, experiencing a transition towards a robotic one. Humanoid and android robots are entering with a steady pace into our everyday lives taking up roles related to companionship, partnership, wellness, healthcare, and education among others. The fusion of information technology, ubiquitous computing,...

Combining multiple scientific disciplines, robotic technology has made significant progress the last decade, and so did the interactions between humans and robots. This article updates the agenda for robotic research by highlighting the factors that affect Human – Robot Interaction (HRI), and explains the relationships and dependencies that exist b...

This work presents a method for designing facial interfaces for sociable android robots with respect to the fundamental rules of human affect expression. Extending the work of Paul Ekman towards a robotic direction, we follow the judgment-based approach for evaluating facial expressions to test in which case an android robot like the Geminoid|DK --...

This paper presents a few of the initial reflections related to ongoing research on the notion of Persuasive Learning. In addition the paper briefly comments upon some of the benefits and challenges related to the cross field between persuasive technologies and learning objects, and between persuasion and learning in general.

This paper explores and develops the notion of applying the ethical perspective of Danish philosopher and theologian K.E. Løgstrup, when designing and developing interactive technologies. The ethical reflections presented in this paper are currently considered in the development of Persuasive Learning Designs within the EU funded PLOT project, thus...

A.N. Prior's work with Peirce's philosophy and investigations into the formalisation of temporal ontology give rise to some important questions regarding time and existence. Some answers to these questions are considered in this paper, which deals mainly with A.N. Prior's ideas on time and existence. The focus is on Prior's analysis of problems con...

This paper deals with the history and the philosophy of some important conceptual structures of time and modality. In particular, the focus is on the historical and philosophical background of the introduction of the notion of branching time as a useful conceptual structure in philosophical logic. It is pointed out that the idea was first suggested...

The project, HANDS (Helping Autism-diagnosed teenagers Navigate and Develop Socially), studies how teenagers with ASD and with IQ within the normal range (IQ > 70) can handle what they see as difficult situations using mobile technology. HANDS is a project sponsored by the European Commission as part of the 7th Framework Programme. It is the basic...

Jacob Lorhard published his ontology in 1606. In this work the term ontologia ‘ontology’ was used for the first time ever. In this paper, it is argued that Lorhard’s ontology provides a useful key to the understanding of the early 17th-century world view in Protestant Europe. Among other things, Lorhard’s ontology reflects how the relations between...

Abstract. During the Renaissance there was a growing interest for the use of diagrams within conceptual studies. This paper investigates the historical and philosophical foundation of this renewed use of diagrams in ontology as well as the modern relevance of this foundation. We discuss the historical and philosophical background for Jacob Lorhard’...

Ontology as the study of being as such dates back to ancient Greek philosophy, but the term itself was coined in the early 17th century. The idea termed in this manner was further studied within academic circles of the Protestant Enlightenment. In this tradition it was generally believed that ontology is supposed to make true statements about the c...

Any non-trivial top-level ontology should take temporal notions into account. The details of how this should be done, however, are frequently de- bated. In this paper it is argued that "the four grades of tense-logical involve- ment" suggested by A.N. Prior form a useful framework for discussing how various temporal notions are related in a top-lev...

In this paper we investigate principles of the representation of time and modality in terms of conceptual graphs. Based on the works of A. N. Prior, and C. S. Peirce, we suggest a formalism that takes into account the notion of 'Now', as a starting point for developing a formalism that can account for comprehension of texts involving temporal descr...

In this paper we describe and evaluate two on-line courses on Conceptual Graphs and Prolog+CG given to 2nd and 3rd year students of Humanistic Informatics at Aalborg University, Denmark. The average student had no prior experience with formal languages, nor did they have any advanced mathematical background, but nevertheless they succeeded in achie...

Natural language communication largely depends on other means than literal expressions. This issue goes far beyond aesthetics, and touches the very heart of natural language. In the last decades, research in these fields has added much to our understanding of concerns that have puzzled researchers since Aristotle, but these insights are rarely refl...

Based on a knowledge base consisting of a formal representation of a narrative, some algorithms are discussed for the purpose of computer aided narrative analysis. The algorithms mentioned vary in complexity from the quite simple such as agent / patient relationship, to more advanced queries that chart deep narrative structures in order to identify...

A narrative is a specific kind of discourse characterized by the possibility of incorporating an ontological construction that may or may not be identical to that of the physical world. Under this perspective, a narrative can be seen as a set of at least one possible world in which actions can take place according to the rules of that world. This p...

Through an analysis of a number of narratologies three Grand Principles are rendered as the epitome of much effort in narratology. The Principles are: Succession, Transformation and Mediation. The Grand Principles of Narratology correspond to three textual levels with their own characteristics in relation to different narrative concerns. Succession...

In the context of the HANDS project [13], we argue that cognitive support systems designed for mobile devices may benefit from classical AI techniques as well as from Persuasive Technology. We investigate a system of stepwise instruction, called a Simple Safe Success Instructor, first in terms of scripts, and later in terms of Hierarchical Task Net...

This paper addressed the question of how collections of theoretical terms from a field of study can be organized in an ontology. It is suggested here that such endeavors may benefit from a meta-model used to structure the ontology, and the prerequisites of such a meta-model are discussed. A collection of more than 600 theoretical concepts from the...

Mobile technologies continue to challenge the way we think about communication. In this paper, I suggest the use of three tenets of Aristotelian poetics as a framework for thinking about movement in mobile narration. The tenets are matched to production, product and usage of narratives.