Agent migration: communications between a human and robot

This paper describes a new human robot interface that enhances the relationship between a user and a robot. Our idea is to introduce a personal CG agent and an agent migration mechanism in the human robot interface. The agent migration mechanism enables the agent to migrate between a mobile PC and an autonomous mobile robot. Since the user can obtain familiarity with his/her own personal CG agent, he/she also begins to naturally interact with the robot according to the migration of the agent. We have developed a tour guide system, named ITAKO, with the interface. The ITAKO system gives a user a tour guide by using the mobile PC and the robot.