WoZ4U: An Open-Source Wizard-of-Oz Interface for Easy, Efficient and Robust HRI Experiments

Area of Science:

• Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)
• Robotics
• Experimental Design

Background:

• Wizard-of-Oz experiments are crucial for Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) hypothesis testing.
• Current tools are often custom-built, leading to programming inefficiencies and accessibility issues for non-technical researchers.
• A standardized, accessible tool for conducting these experiments is lacking in the research community.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a general, user-friendly tool for conducting Wizard-of-Oz experiments with robots.
• To provide a system architecture adaptable to various robot platforms, focusing initially on the Pepper robot.
• To enable quick setup, reproducibility, and repeatability of HRI experiments.

Main Methods:

• Developed a system with a central server and a browser-based graphical interface.
• Implemented a configuration file for saving experiment-specific parameters.
• Integrated keyboard shortcuts for assigning phrases, gestures, and composite behaviors to streamline robot control.

Main Results:

• The tool provides a functional, flexible, and easy-to-use interface for controlling robots in Wizard-of-Oz experiments.
• The system architecture is robot-independent and adaptable.
• Initial tests confirm the system's effectiveness and ease of use.

Conclusions:

• The developed tool addresses the need for a general and accessible platform for Wizard-of-Oz experiments in HRI.
• The system's design promotes efficiency, reproducibility, and broader accessibility for researchers.
• The open-source release aims to benefit researchers across various technical backgrounds in conducting HRI studies.