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THE QUEENSLAND University of Technology (QUT) has hosted an event, exploring the future of human interactivity with autonomous cars.
Shared Space Bots was organised by QUT in association with World Science Festival Brisbane, and took place from 11 March to 13 MArch at QUT Gardens Point Theatre Foyer.
Austrian art and technology researchers Ars Electronica Futurelab brought six floor robots to the event, and its Director of Research and Innovation, Christopher Lindinger, conducted demonstrations.
The event aimed to demonstrate how humans would interact with robotic cars, letting the robots know when to change lanes, how to deal with pedestrians, and stop for crossing.
The Ars Electronica Futurelab robots, which were developed as part of an ongoing research cooperation with Mercedes-Benz, are able to communicate with their environment via light and audio signals. They are also able to communicate with humans via their movements.
On the part of the humans, the robots are programmed to recognise human intent via their movements, and also take into account positioning devices that define off-limits areas.
The communication between human and robot being developed by Ars Electronica Futurelab is more than about pre-programming a robot to do a certain task or drive a particular course from A to B. Rather, it will be about how autonomous cars will be able to let human road users know what they intend to do, how they will understand what humans intend to do on the road and how they will respond to the unexpected.