Search

Behavioral analyses of in-the-wild HRI studies generally rely on interviews or visual information from videos. This can be very limiting in settings where video recordings are not allowed or limited. We designed and tested a vocalization-based protocol to analyze in-the-wild child–robot interactions based upon a behavioral coding scheme utilized in wildlife biology, specifically in studies of wild dolphin populations. The audio of a video or audio recording is converted into a transcript, which is then analyzed using a behavioral coding protocol consisting of 5–6 categories (one indicating non-robot-related behavior, and 4–5 categories of robot-related behavior). Refining the code categories and training coders resulted in increased agreement between coders, but only to a level of moderate reliability, leading to our recommendation that it be used with three coders to assess where there is majority consensus, and thereby correct for subjectivity. We discuss lessons learned in the design and implementation of this protocol and the potential for future child–robot experiments analyzed through vocalization behavior. We also perform a few observational behavior analyses from vocalizations alone to demonstrate the potential of this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of the Civil Engineering Society at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, also known as Alaska College. The school was founded in 1922, and the society was founded in 1929; and in 1936, the school had graduated only a total of fourteen civil engineers. Charles Bunnell, the former U.S. district judge at Fairbanks, was the first president of the college, and was also on the faculty of the college. William Elmhirst Duckering led the Department of Civil Engineering and Mathematics at the college since 1932. The Civil Engineering Society held bi-monthly meetings, in which students talked about current issues in civil engineering, and professors and guest speakers also expressed their views on current engineering events.