This is funding to support a PI Workshop on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, on September 27-28, 2006. HRI is one of the two cross-cutting technical areas defined in IIS Division's new solicitation entitled "Information and Intelligent Systems: Advancing Human-Centered Computing, Information Integration and Informatics, and Robust Intelligence" (NSF 06-572). The 1.5-day workshop will bring together current NSF PIs with ongoing HRI research programs, along with selected additional members of the research community with related interests, to help NSF identify emerging trends in this rapidly evolving field. Participants will discuss and prioritize the important subfields of HRI that the scientific community believes will have a major impact in the near-to-medium term. This workshop is one of several similar events, each focusing on a particular aspect of the new solicitation, being sponsored by IIS Division with the goal of encouraging the research community to provide input to NSF in its strategic planning process as we prepare for the challenges and opportunities anticipated during the coming period of explosive technological growth and change.
Broader Impacts: This workshop will present a unique opportunity for NSF PIs and other members of the rapidly growing human-robot interaction (HRI) research community to discuss the state of the art and to engage in strategic planning toward shaping the direction of this new and interdisciplinary research area with major implications on the future of robotics in society. The workshop organizers will produce a comprehensive workshop report, and the workshop website will become a permanent repository of the workshop discussions, breakout group reports, etc for general access by the research community at large.
