A cognitive framework for robot guides in art collections

A basic goal in human–robot interaction is to establish such a communication mode between the two parties that the humans perceive it as effective and natural; effective in the sense of being responsive to the information needs of the humans, and natural in the sense of communicating information in modes familiar to humans. This paper sets the framework for a robot guide to visitors in art collections and other assistive environments, which incorporates the principles of effectiveness and naturalness. The human–robot interaction takes place in natural language in the form of a dialogue session during which the robot describes exhibits, but also recommends exhibits that might be of interest to the visitors. It is also possible for the robot to explain its reasoning to the visitors, with a view to increasing transparency and consequently trust in the robot’s suggestions. Furthermore, the robot leads the visitors to the location of the desired exhibit. The framework is general enough to be implemented in different hardware, including portable computational devices. The framework is based on a cognitive model comprised of four modules: a reactive, a deliberative, a reflective and an affective one. An initial implementation of a dialogue system realising this cognitive model is presented. main ontology.