Exploring the Effect of Communication Patterns and Transparency on Performance in a Human-Robot Team. (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lakhmani, Shan G.; Wright, Julia L.; Schwartz, Michael R.; Barber, Daniel
• Is Part Of: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting. Volume 63:Part 1(2019)
• Page Start: 160
• Page End: 164
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Human engineering -- Congresses; 620.8205
• DOI: 10.1177/1071181319631054
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1541-9312

Abstract

Human-robot interaction requires communication, however what form this communication should take to facilitate effective team performance is still undetermined. One notion is that effective human-agent communications can be achieved by combining transparent information-sharing techniques with specific communication patterns. This study examines how transparency and a robot's communication patterns interact to affect human performance in a human-robot teaming task. Participants' performance in a target identification task was affected by the robot's communication pattern. Participants missed identifying more targets when they worked with a bidirectionally communicating robot than when they were working with a unidirectionally communicating one. Furthermore, working with a bidirectionally communicating robot led to fewer correct identifications than working with a unidirectionally communicating robot, but only when the robot provided less transparency information. The implications these findings have for future robot interface designs are discussed.