By the end of the course, students will be have learned:

Various theoretical perspectives on interaction, which can be applied to human-robot interaction design,

Human-centered methods for designing and evaluating human-robot interaction systems, while integrating reflective practices into everyday research, and

Practical skills for creating an interdisciplinary  research project in human-robot interaction

This course surveys the emerging field of human-robot interaction (HRI). In the near future, robots are expected to take part in our everyday lives as assistants, teammates, caretakers, etc. HRI research tackles the social and technical challenges involved in developing such technologies - understanding how people perceive and are affected by robots as well as creating robots that interact in ways that are natural and intuitive for human partners. This course focuses on how to design and evaluate interactive robots from a human-centered perspective. We will cover topics such as anthropomorphism, robot form and function, multi-modal communication, and real-world applications of robots (e.g. domestic, health and rehabilitation, urban search and rescue etc.), as well as cover methods commonly used in HRI research.

Main element of the course is to conduct, document, and present a small independent HRI-project.