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Human-Robot Interaction Lab Sønderborg

Research Methodology at the HRI-lab Sønderborg

Developing research methods is teamwork: Kerstin Fischer, Nathalie Schümchen and Rosalyn Langedijk join forces (left to right).

Human-robot interaction is a complex field of study which requires interdisciplinary skills. Consequently, the team of the HRI-lab uses very different approaches in research.

In the subsequent interviews our researchers give an in-depth insight into their studies.


Kerstin Fischer: Dedicated to human-robot interaction

Kerstin Fischer visits the Honda Research Institute Japan in Tokyo.

Kerstin Fischer introduces her research on speech, human-robot interaction and the HRI lab in Sønderborg. 

Oliver Niebuhr: "We know surprisingly little about spoke language" 

Oliver Niebuhr working in the language lab.

Associate Professor Oliver Niebuhr presents Charisma & Intonation: We know surprisingly little about spoken language.

Nathalie Schümchen: "I look into my data without forming hypotheses beforehand" 

Nathalie Schümchen and Rosalyn Melissa Langedijk developing a concept for an experiment in the HRI-lab, Sønderborg.

PhD student Nathalie Schümchen gives an insight on Visual Teaching Materials for Second Language Learning.

Selina Sara Eisenberger: "Investing time in intonation pays out" 

Two Keepon Robots

Research Assistant Selina Sara Eisenberger presents Intonation Swap Study – Using Robots in Prosody Research

Rosalyn Melissa Langedijk: "Robots are often dealt with as if it was a person" 

Rosalyn Melissa Langedijk experimenting with the EZ-Bot in the Lab.

PhD student Rosalyn Melissa Langedijk introduces SMOOTH Project -Developing A Support Robot for the Elderly.

Sascha Steinhoff: Coding Open Answers in Surveys

Screenshot Survey Xact: Open Question Design

Data processing in surveys: Sascha Steinhoff demonstrates techniques for efficient coding of answers to open questions.


Software that we use

Here we give an overview of applications that we regularly use for our research:

Audacity - Software for generating and manipulating sound files
http://www.audacityteam.org/

Clan - A free tool for video/audio transcriptions
http://childes.psy.cmu.edu/clan/

iCub Simulator - Installation guide and software links (win/mac/linux)
http://eris.liralab.it/wiki/ICub_Simulator_Installation

Godspeed Questionnaire Series - A set of ready-to-use questionnaire items, validated and tested in HRI experiments
http://www.bartneck.de/2008/03/11/the-godspeed-questionnaire-series/

Handbrake - A free video converter
https://handbrake.fr/

MaryTTS - Free text-to-speech synthesizer. Can run in your browser or be installed locally on Windows/Mac/linux
http://mary.dfki.de/

Online avatar with text-to-speech synthesizer
http://www.sitepal.com/editordemo/

Overleaf - Online tool to support collaborative writing using LaTex
https://www.overleaf.com/

Paper Templates - Word and LaTex templates for submission to IEEE conferences
http://www.ieee.org/conferences_events/conferences/publishing/templates.html

Praat - Software for doing phonetic analysis and manipulation of audio streams
http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/praat/

ProsodyPro - A Praat script for large-scale systematic prosody analysis
http://www.homepages.ucl.ac.uk/~uclyyix/ProsodyPro/

Social Objects Lab on YouTube - Online tutorials on video editing, transcription using clan, and more
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe-KwudMVdakhrEsWHkpmYQ

TeamViewer - A tool for remotely connecting to other computers. Great for setting up WoZ studies (free for personal use)
https://www.teamviewer.com

Last Updated 14.02.2023