About the Facility

A white and blue robot with a an arm and gripper folded in front of it

A state-of-the-art facility for studying and evaluating Human-Robot Interaction across the disciplines of robotics, psychology, and interactive media arts with applications throughout health and medicine.

The Facility's experimental space is framed with a metal structure covered with modular acoustic panels and acoustic ceiling tiles which support and partially conceal the sensors. Software combines and interprets sensor measurements to produce streams of time-stamped data that can then selectively be used in real time to control robotic devices, and/or logged to computer disk. This capability supports a wide variety of multidisciplinary experimentation in human–robot interaction. There are no comparable facilities for HRI research worldwide.

The Facility can support markerless sensing of human movement; studies of user interaction with technological devices, and interpretation of human intent and affect; improving the quality of everyday life activities of people with impairments using robotics technology; robot learning and cognitive reasoning in HRI; planning, action, and safety in cooperative human–robot activity; and the evaluation of robot design for HRI.

Thanks to the partnership with Spatial Inc. and Dickins Audio, the Facility is equipped with an advanced digital network consisting of 256 individual output sound channels and 120 microphone channels. This cutting-edge setup enables the creation of immersive soundscapes, enchanced by reverb emulation for realistic echo simulation.

Facility Staff

Mari Velonaki

Director

UNSW Art & Design

Mari Velonaki on the right looks at the face of a gynoid on the left

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David Rye

Deputy Director NFHRI

ACFR, The University of Sydney

A mustachioed David Rye looks off-screen

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Katherine Moline

Deputy Director NFHRI

(Research and Engagement)

Katherine Moline

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Jorge Forseck

Senior Research Officer

UNSW Art & Design

A black and white Jorge Forseck looks off-screen to the left

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Kaarin Anstey

Scientia Professor

UNSW Ageing Futures Institute

Kaarin Anstey

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Colin Clifford

Vision/Perception

UNSW Psychology

Colin Clifford

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Gamini Dissanayake

Localisation/Navigation/Dynamics

UTS CAS

Gamini Dissanayake

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Steven Faux

Rehabilitation Medicine

St Vincent's Hospital

Steven Faux

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Wafa Johal

Human-Robot Interaction

UNSW CSE

Wafa Johal

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Dikai Liu

Human-Robot Cooperation

UTS CAS

Dikai Liu

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Nadine Marcus

Associate Professor

UNSW CSE

Nadine Marcus

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Maurice Pagnucco

AI/Cognitive Robotics

UNSW CSE

Maurice Pagnucco

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Aaron Quigley

Professor

UNSW CSE

Aaron Quigley

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Fabio Ramos

Machine Learning/Perception

USyd School of Computer Science

Fabio Ramos

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Deborah Turnbull-Tillman

Culture & Technology Lead

UNSW Art & Design

Deborah Turnbull-Tillman

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Katsumi Watanabe

Cognitive Science/Neuroscience

Waseda University/UNSW

Katsumi Watanabe

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Lian Loke

Associate Professor/Design

The University of Sydney

Lian Loke

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Dagmar Reinhardt

Associate Professor

The University of Sydney

Dagmar Reinhardt

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Facility Partners

The University of New South Wales

UNSW Art & Design

School of Computer Science and Engineering

School of Psychology

The University of Sydney

Australian Centre for Field Robotics

School of Computer Science

University of Technology Sydney

Centre for Autonomous Systems

St Vincent’s Hospital

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine

UNSW Ageing Futures Institute

Ageing Futures Institute

Spatial Inc

Spatial Inc

Dickins Audio

Dickins Audio