This project aims to increase STEM interest in children through the use of a social reading companion robot. These companions are able give interest and knowledge support through the comments they provide as the child reads informal science books. As part of our research, we look to investigate how we can improve the support the robot provides, and methods for improving the interaction, as these robots are deployed with children in-home for several weeks. We’ve recently investigated user preferences for the different modalities available for use within an interaction, as well as how to design comments that couple with robot emotions for a stronger connection making between the child and the robot. Currently, we are investigating the incorporation of interest support comments within the interaction and how these affect children’s situational interest in the STEM material. We are also researching how these companions will affect children’s reading patterns and STEM interest when deployed in-home for longer durations.
Popular scientific news coverage:
- Popular Science: Kids aren’t reading enough. One solution? robots.
- Discover: Want Your Kids to Read More? Get ‘Em a Robot
- Inverse: With a Robot by Their Side, Kids Understand More of What They’re Reading
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Michaelis, J., B. Cagiltay, R. Ibtasar, and B. Mutlu. “Off Script:” Design Opportunities Emerging from Long-Term Social Robot Interactions In-the-Wild. Proceedings of the 2023 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI ’23), 2023.
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Read more DocumentTang, B., D. Sullivan, B. Cagiltay, V. Chandrasekaran, K. Fawaz, and B. Mutlu. CONFIDANT: A Privacy Controller for Social Robots. Proceedings of the 2022 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2022, p. 205-14.
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Read moreLee, C., B. Cagiltay, and B. Mutlu. The Unboxing Experience: Exploration and Design of Initial Interactions Between Children and Social Robots. CHI ’22: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2022.
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Read moreCagiltay, B., J. Michaelis, S. Sebo, and B. Mutlu. Exploring Children’s Preferences for Taking Care of a Social Robot. IDC ’22: Interaction Design and Children, 2022.
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Read moreCagiltay, B., N. White, R. Ibtasar, B. Mutlu, and J. Michaelis. Understanding Factors That Shape Children’s Long Term Engagement With an In-Home Learning Companion Robot. IDC ’22: Interaction Design and Children, 2022.
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Read more DocumentWhite, N., B. Cagiltay, J. Michaelis, and B. Mutlu. “Designing Emotionally Expressive Social Commentary to Facilitate Child-Robot Interaction”. Interaction Design and Children, Association for Computing Machinery, 2021, pp. 314–325.
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Read more DocumentHo, H.-R., B. Cagiltay, N. White, E. Hubbard, and B. Mutlu. “"RoboMath Designing a Learning Companion Robot to Support Children’s Numerical Skills"”. Interaction Design and Children, Association for Computing Machinery, 2021.
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Read more Read more DocumentCagiltay, B., H. R. Ho, J. Michaelis, and B. Mutlu. “Investigating Family Perceptions and Design Preferences for an in-Home robot”. Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference, 2020, pp. 229-42. -
Read moreMichaelis, J., and B. Mutlu. “Supporting Interest in Science Learning With a Social robot”. Proceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, ACM, 2019, pp. 71-82. -
Read moreMichaelis, J., and B. Mutlu. “Social Reading: Field Study With an In-Home Learning Companion Robot”. Science Robotics , International Society of the Learning Sciences, Inc.[ISLS]., 2018.
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Read more Read moreMichaelis, J., and B. Mutlu. “Someone to Read With: Design of and Experiences With an In-Home Learning Companion Robot for Reading”. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM, 2017, pp. 301-12.
Talks
CHI 2017 – Someone to Read with: Design of and Experiences with an In-Home Learning Companion Robot for Reading
IDC 2020 – Investigating family perceptions and design preferences for an in-home robot
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under award 1906854, “STEM-Mates: Designing Companion Robots with Socially Situated Interest Scaffolds for Informal, In-home STEM Learning.