2021 Faculty Courses School of Engineering Department of Industrial Engineering and Economics Graduate major in Industrial Engineering and Economics
Human-Robot Interaction
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Industrial Engineering and Economics
- Instructor(s)
- Hiroyuki Umemuro / Jacqueline Urakami
- Class Format
- Lecture/Exercise
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 7-8 Mon / 7-8 Thu
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- IEE.C534
- Number of credits
- 110
- Course offered
- 2021
- Offered quarter
- 4Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is a multidisciplinary study of interactions between Humans and Robots. The goal of this course is to examine psychological and sociological concepts that are relevant for understanding, evaluating, and designing natural and intuitive interactions between humans and robots. The course covers topics such as communication, trust, acceptance, empathy, affective design, and ethical considerations for HRI. In the course, students will learn what human needs and requirements have to be met in order to design effective and successful human-robot interactions. Furthermore, the course intends to increase students’ awareness of social aspects of technology and social considerations surrounding technology.
Course description and aims
Students will
1) Learn basic psychological and sociological concepts and how to apply them to the design of human-robot interaction
2) Understand human capabilitites and limitations that have to be considered in Human-Robot Interaction
3) Develop a criticial understand of the impact of new technologies on society
Keywords
human-robot interaction, communication, intelligent automated systems, empathy
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Each class will cover a different topic relevant for Human-Robot interaction. The class will be held Online and recordings of the class will be made available for viewing. Every class contains a lecture and group discussions / group work. Class participation is registered by filling out a Google form for each course after you have taken the Zoom course or viewed the course record.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction | Course content, class flow, course requirements will be explained |
| Class 2 | A short history of robotics | Historic overview of how robot technology has evolved and changed peoples life |
| Class 3 | Study methods and designs for evaluating Human-Robot interaction | Fundamentals in research methods, laboratory and field studies, research design |
| Class 4 | Sources of Interactivity effects | Interactivity of HRI, Affordance and Machine Agency |
| Class 5 | Physical interaction and haptics | Foundation of haptics, Effect of haptics in Human-Robot interaction |
| Class 6 | Verbal and non-verbal communication | Fundamentals of communication studies and how to apply these to Human-Robot interaction |
| Class 7 | Affective Design | The role of emotions for designing Human-Robot interactions |
| Class 8 | Acceptance and Trust | The concept of trust, role of trust for accepting and interacting with robots |
| Class 9 | Empathic Human-Robot interaction | Concept of empathy, how to improve Human-robot collaboration by incorporating empathy into the dialog |
| Class 10 | Developing long-term relationships | Foundations of relationship building, maintaining a lasting and positive relationship in Human-Robot interaction |
| Class 11 | Ethical guidelines for Artificial Intelligence | Ethical guidlines for Artificial Intelligence, Impact of robot technology on society |
| Class 12 | Presentation (PechaKucha Style) | Short presentation by students covering specific problems in a chosen applied field of robotics or artificial intelligence |
| Class 13 | Applications: Domestic assistance / Service sector | Review of specific available applications that facilitate daily life and are used in the service sector |
| Class 14 | Challenges and Future scenarios of HRI | Discussing challenges of HRI that emerge with the evolution of more intelligent interactive technologies. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
No textbook is set.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Additional course materials will be provided in class or on OCW-i.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Attendance at classes (Google form) 20%.
Homework 20%
Group project 20%
Presentation 30%
Peer review of the presentation 10%
Related courses
- IEE.C304 ： Ergonomics
- IEE.C432 ： Applied Cognitive Ergonomics
- IEE.C533 ： Affect in Social Context
- IEE.C203 ： Engineering Psychology
- IEE.C202 ： Industrial Engineering
Prerequisites
Nothing in particular. Interest in the subject and being able to discuss in English.