Towards high-level, cloud-distributed robotic telepresence: Concept introduction and preliminary experiments

In this paper we propose the basic concept of a tele-presence system for two (or more) anthropomorphic robots located in remote locations. As one robot interacts with a user, it acquires knowledge about the user´s behavior and transfers this knowledge to the network. The robot in the remote location accesses this knowledge and according to this information emulates the behavior of the remote user when interacting with its partner. The behavioral patterns are grouped into macro-behavior units (maBUs) and mirco-behavior units (miBUs). maBUs carry information that is specific to a person-to-person communication. miBUs are commonly used behavior patterns within a certain cultural environment (e.g. handshake, bow etc). maBUs are usually chains of miBUs. miBUs are chains of expression actions (e.g. gesture, facial expression etc.). The idea behind this is, that human communication contains several levels or layers of information exchange. This to be emulated by implementing the concept of miBUs and maBUs. We present a preliminary application of this concept to a musical context. The rhythmic motion of a drum-stick during the performance of a drum rhythm by a musician is recorded by a inertial measurements unit and transmitted between two far distance locations (Waseda University in Japan and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany) using three different transmission methods: direct raw data transmission, miBU based transmission and maBU-based transmission. We present experimental results that show quantitative data to evaluate the suitability of our approach, with the overall goal to implement a telepresence system of larger scale.