Reviews

Search results

• MotionBuddy: Exploring Tactile-Based Motion Learning with a Tabletop Humanoid Robot for Blind People

  Kengo Tanaka, Xiyue Wang, Hironobu Takagi, Yoichi Ochiai, Chieko Asakawa · 2026 · Proceedings of the 21st ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI '26)

  This HRI 2026 study by the same team behind the earlier 3D tactile-pose work asks whether a tabletop humanoid robot can convey dynamic body movements to blind learners more effectively than audio instruction alone. The motivation is that physical 3D models and tactile graphics…

  human-robot interaction · humanoid robot · assistive robotics · blindness and low vision · visual impairment

• How Does Delegation in Social Interaction Evolve Over Time? Navigation with a Robot for Blind People

  Rayna Hata, Masaki Kuribayashi, Allan Wang, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Hata and colleagues run a three-week longitudinal study of how six blind participants delegate social navigation tasks to a guide robot in the Miraikan science museum. The paper pushes back against the default assumption that accessible navigation robots should be as autonomous…

  assistive robotics · navigation · blindness and low vision · visual impairment · shared control

• Robot-Assisted Group Tours for Blind People

  Yaxin Hu, Masaki Kuribayashi, Allan Wang, Seita Kayukawa, Daisuke Sato, Bilge Mutlu, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Hu and colleagues investigate how an assistive mobile robot can support blind people's participation in mixed-visual group tours, where blind and sighted visitors share the same guided experience. The motivation is that group activities are central to social life, but blind…

  assistive robotics · museum accessibility · blindness and low vision · visual impairment · group activities

• Eye-Tracking-Driven Shared Control for Robotic Arms: Wizard of Oz Studies to Assess Design Choices

  Anke Fischer-Janzen, Thomas M. Wendt, Daniel Görlich, Kristof Van Laerhoven · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction

  The paper presents two Wizard of Oz studies evaluating an eye-tracking-driven shared-control system for an assistive robotic arm — the 7-DoF Kinova Gen3 — designed for People with Severe Motor Disabilities (PSMD). PSMD here includes people with locked-in syndrome, cerebral…

  assistive robotics · eye tracking · gaze input · shared control · motor disability

• DiG-Net: Enhancing Human–Robot Interaction through Hyper-Range Dynamic Gesture Recognition in Assistive Robotics

  Eran Bamani Beeri, Eden Nissinman, Avishai Sintov · 2026 · ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction

  DiG-Net (Distance-aware Gesture Network) addresses a fundamental limitation in gesture-controlled assistive robotics: existing dynamic gesture recognition systems work reliably only within about seven metres of the camera, severely constraining their usefulness in real-world…

  assistive robotics · gesture recognition · human-robot interaction · mobility impairment · accessibility

• Towards LLM-powered Assistive Drone for Blind and Low Vision Users

  Yize Wei, Ibnu Taimiyyah Bin Adam, Hanjun Wu, Moritz Messerschmidt, Wei Tsang Ooi, Christophe Jouffrais, Suranga Nanayakkara · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Wei and colleagues built and evaluated a voice-based assistive drone prototype for blind and low-vision (BLV) users that leverages GPT-4o in two stages: generating step-by-step Python drone-control code from natural-language commands, and interpreting images captured by the…

  blind and low vision · assistive technology · drone · LLM · large language models

• Robot-Assisted Social Dining as a White Glove Service

  Atharva S Kashyap, Ugne Aleksandra Morkute, Patricia Alves-Oliveira · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper addresses a gap in the robot-assisted feeding literature: existing systems are almost exclusively evaluated in the lab or the home for solitary dining, leaving public, social contexts such as restaurants largely unstudied. The authors argue that social dining…

  assistive robotics · robot-assisted feeding · speculative design · participatory design · generative AI

• WanderGuide: Indoor Map-less Robotic Guide for Exploration by Blind People

  Masaki Kuribayashi, Kohei Uehara, Allan Wang, Shigeo Morishima, Chieko Asakawa · 2025 · Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '25)

  Kuribayashi and colleagues design WanderGuide, a suitcase-shaped robotic guide that supports blind people in recreational, open-ended exploration of indoor environments — wandering, browsing, window-shopping — rather than getting from A to B. The team frames a clear gap in the…

  assistive robotics · indoor navigation · blindness and low vision · visual impairment · recreational exploration

• Field Trials of Autonomous Navigation Robot for Visually Impaired People

  Hironobu Takagi, Kakuya Naito, Daisuke Sato, Masayuki Murata, Seita Kayukawa, Chieko Asakawa · 2025 · Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '25)

  This paper reports field trials of AI Suitcase, an autonomous navigation robot shaped like a conventional carry-on suitcase and designed to guide blind and visually impaired (BVI) travellers safely through unfamiliar public spaces. The system traces its origins to the CaBot…

  assistive robotics · blindness and low vision · navigation · indoor navigation · wayfinding

• Beyond Omakase: Designing Shared Control for Navigation Robots with Blind People

  Rie Kamikubo, Seita Kayukawa, Yuka Kaniwa, Allan Wang, Hernisa Kacorri, Hironobu Takagi, Chieko Asakawa · 2025 · Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '25)

  Kamikubo and colleagues investigate how autonomous navigation robots for blind users should balance robot autonomy against user control, arguing that current systems default to what they call 'omakase' — a Japanese term meaning 'I leave it to you' — in which the robot makes all…

  assistive robotics · blindness and low vision · human-robot interaction · social robot navigation · shared control

• From research participant to co-researcher: Chloe's story on co-designing inclusive technologies with people with intellectual disability

  Choe Haidenhofer, Laurianne Sitbon, Chris P Beaumont, Maria Hoogstrate, Jessica L Korte · 2024 · ASSETS 2024: 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This experience report centers the voice of Chloe Haidenhofer, a woman with intellectual disability who has transitioned from research participant to co-researcher over five years of collaboration with the inclusive design technologies team at Queensland University of Technology…

  intellectual disability · co-design · social robots · inclusive research · co-researcher

• Co-design of Robotic Technology with Care Home Residents and Care Workers

  Helena Anna Frijns, Ralf Vetter, Matthias Hirschmanner, Reinhard Grabler, Laura Vogel, Sabine Theresia Koeszegi · 2024 · Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments (PETRA)

  This paper documents a co-design workshop series conducted at two care homes in Austria, involving 25 participants: 13 care workers (mean age 43.5) and 12 care home residents (mean age 80.6). The research question was whether introducing technology components — rather than…

  co-design · participatory design · older adults · care homes · robotics

• Enhancing Blind Visitor's Autonomy in a Science Museum Using an Autonomous Navigation Robot

  Seita Kayukawa, Daisuke Sato, Masayuki Murata, Tatsuya Ishihara, Hironobu Takagi, Shigeo Morishima, Chieko Asakawa · 2023 · Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  Museums have historically struggled to offer blind visitors the same self-directed, exploratory experience that sighted visitors take for granted. Prior solutions — tactile tours, audio guides, or pre-fixed navigation routes — either require a human escort or constrain visitors…

  blind navigation · autonomous navigation robot · museum accessibility · visual impairment · indoor navigation

• PathFinder: Designing a Map-less Navigation System for Blind People in Unfamiliar Buildings

  Masaki Kuribayashi, Tatsuya Ishihara, Daisuke Sato, Jayakorn Vongkulbhisal, Karnik Ram, Seita Kayukawa, Hironobu Takagi, Shigeo Morishima, Chieko Asakawa · 2023 · Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

  Map-based indoor navigation systems for blind travellers (CaBot, NavCog, BLE-beacon apps) work well when a prebuilt map exists, but building and maintaining those maps is labour-intensive and has only been done for a tiny fraction of the world's buildings. Engel et al. reported…

  map-less navigation · blind navigation · indoor navigation · intersection detection · sign recognition

• Guiding Blind Pedestrians in Public Spaces by Understanding Walking Behavior of Nearby Pedestrians

  Seita Kayukawa, Tatsuya Ishihara, Hironobu Takagi, Shigeo Morishima, Chieko Asakawa · 2020 · Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (IMWUT), Vol. 4, No. 3, Article 85

  Collisions with other pedestrians are one of the most common hazards for blind travellers in public space — 87.8% of blind people report colliding or nearly colliding with pedestrians, bicycles, or obstacles. White canes detect contact rather than approach, and guide dogs cannot…

  blind navigation · collision prediction · pedestrian avoidance · visual impairment · audio interface

• BlindPilot: A Robotic Local Navigation System that Leads Blind People to a Landmark Object

  Seita Kayukawa, Tatsuya Ishihara, Hironobu Takagi, Shigeo Morishima, Chieko Asakawa · 2020 · Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '20, Late-Breaking Work)

  Most indoor-navigation research for blind travellers has focused on what the authors call 'global' navigation — getting from a building entrance to a room, gate, or exhibit. The 'last few metres' of the journey, a body-scale interaction with a specific landmark object such as an…

  local navigation · landmark object · blind navigation · indoor navigation · assistive robotics

• A Community-Centered Design Framework for Robot-Assisted Feeding Systems

  Tapomayukh Bhattacharjee, Maria E. Cabrera, Anat Caspi, Maya Cakmak, Siddhartha S. Srinivasa · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS)

  This paper develops a community-centered design framework for evaluating robot-assisted feeding (RAF) systems, shifting the perspective from purely transactional (robot picks up food, delivers to mouth) to relational (feeding as a social, cultural, and identity-laden activity…

  assistive robotics · activities of daily living · motor disability · feeding assistance · community-centered design

• Go That Way: Exploring Supplementary Physical Movements by a Stationary Robot When Providing Navigation Instructions

  Xiang Zhi Tan, Elizabeth J. Carter, Samantha Reig, Aaron Steinfeld · 2019 · Proceedings of the 21st International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2019)

  This paper explores how stationary kiosk-type robots might provide navigation instructions to blind people by supplementing verbal directions with physical movements. The work is inspired by a technique used by Orientation and Mobility (O&M) experts called Palm Drawing, in which…

  blindness · human-robot interaction · navigation · haptic feedback · orientation and mobility

• What My Eyes Can't See, A Robot Can Show Me: Exploring the Collaboration Between Blind People and Robots

  Mayara Bonani, Raquel Oliveira, Filipa Correia, André Rodrigues, Tiago Guerreiro, Ana Paiva · 2018 · Proceedings of the 20th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2018)

  This University of Lisbon and University of São Paulo study explores how assistive robots can go beyond information-giving technologies (like screen readers) by physically collaborating with blind people. The research consists of two studies. Study 1 conducted four focus groups…

  blindness · robotics · human-robot interaction · assistive robotics · collaboration

• Speech Interaction with Personal Assistive Robots Supporting Aging at Home for Individuals with Alzheimer's Disease

  Frank Rudzicz, Rosalie Wang, Momotaz Begum, Alex Mihailidis · 2015 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS)

  This study examines speech-based interaction between older adults with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and a mobile assistive robot called ED, designed to help with activities of daily living. The research addresses a critical healthcare challenge: many nations lack capacity to support…

  Alzheimer's disease · dementia · assistive robotics · speech recognition · aging in place

• Laser pointers and a touch screen: intuitive interfaces for autonomous mobile manipulation for the motor impaired

  Young Sang Choi, Cressel D. Anderson, Jonathan D. Glass, Charles C. Kemp · 2008 · Proceedings of the 10th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '08)

  This paper presents El-E ("Ellie"), a prototype assistive mobile robot designed to help people with severe motor impairments retrieve everyday objects from the floor. The robot features a vertical lift with a 5-degree-of-freedom manipulator arm, stereo and omnidirectional…

  assistive robotics · motor impairment · amyotrophic lateral sclerosis · human-robot interaction · laser pointer interface

• Demo of VJ-Voicebot: Control of Robotic Arm with the Vocal Joystick

  Brandi House, Jon Malkin, Jeff Bilmes · 2007 · Proceedings of the 9th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '07)

  This demonstration paper from the University of Washington presents VJ-Voicebot, a system that allows individuals with motor disabilities to continuously control a 5 degrees-of-freedom robotic arm using non-verbal vocal sounds. The system builds on the Vocal Joystick (VJ)…

  assistive robotics · voice interface · motor impairment · continuous voice control · robotic arm

• A Storytelling Robot for Pediatric Rehabilitation

  Catherine Plaisant, Allison Druin, Corinna Lathan, Kapil Dakhane, Kris Edwards, Jack Maxwell Vice, Jaime Montemayor · 2000 · Proceedings of the Fourth International ACM Conference on Assistive Technologies (Assets '00)

  This paper from the University of Maryland's Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory and AnthroTronix describes PETS (Personal Electronic Teller of Stories), a storytelling robot designed for pediatric rehabilitation. Children control a large furry robot using body-worn sensors…

  assistive robotics · pediatric rehabilitation · therapeutic play · participatory design · cerebral palsy

23 results.