Evaluation of Socially-Aware Robot Navigation

As mobile robots are increasingly introduced into our daily lives, it grows ever more imperative that these robots navigate with and among people in a safe and socially acceptable manner, particularly in shared spaces. While research on enabling socially-aware robot navigation has expanded over the years, there are no agreed-upon evaluation protocols or benchmarks to allow for the systematic development and evaluation of socially-aware navigation. As an effort to aid more productive development and progress comparisons, in this paper we review the evaluation methods, scenarios, datasets, and metrics commonly used in previous socially-aware navigation research, discuss the limitations of existing evaluation protocols, and highlight research opportunities for advancing socially-aware robot navigation.

Recognition of Human Face Regions under Adverse Conditions—Face Masks and Glasses—In Thermographic Sanitary Barriers through Learning Transfer from an Object Detector

The COVID-19 pandemic has detrimentally affected people’s lives and the economies of many countries, causing disruption in the health, education, transport, and other sectors. Several countries have implemented sanitary barriers at airports, bus and train stations, company gates, and other shared spaces to detect patients with viral symptoms in an effort to contain the spread of the disease. As fever is one of the most recurrent disease symptoms, the demand for devices that measure skin (body surface) temperature has increased. The thermal imaging camera, also known as a thermal imager, is one such device used to measure temperature. It employs a technology known as infrared thermography and is a noninvasive, fast, and objective tool. This study employed machine learning transfer using You Only Look Once (YOLO) to detect the hottest temperatures in the regions of interest (ROIs) of the human face in thermographic images, allowing the identification of a febrile state in humans. The algorithms detect areas of interest in the thermographic images, such as the eyes, forehead, and ears, before analyzing the temperatures in these regions. The developed software achieved excellent performance in detecting the established areas of interest, adequately indicating the maximum temperature within each region of interest, and correctly choosing the maximum temperature among them.

Modelling Road User Perceptions towards Safety, Comfort, and Chaos at Shared Space: The via Maqueda Case Study, Italy

This study aims to investigate the impacts of perception of infrastructure, sociodemographic characteristics, frequency of road use, and road user perception on safety, comfort, and chaos with respect to shared spaces. The case study area was the Via Maqueda, a shared street in Palermo, Italy. A face-to-face survey was conducted and the answers of 200 of the participants, who use three active travel modes, namely, walking, cycling, and micromobility, were analysed. The results obtained from the ordered logit models suggest that one-unit higher perception of infrastructure will increase safety and comfort perceptions for both walking and cycling. Females feel less safe while walking and less comfortable while cycling at shared spaces compared to males. Increasing the age group by one unit will decrease the safety and comfort perceptions for walking. The participants who use the shared spaces more frequently perceive that they feel more comfortable with cycling. Participants, particularly males, find the shared spaces less chaotic for walking when the perception of infrastructure is higher. Regarding the micromobility use at shared spaces, females feel less comfortable compared to males while using micromobility.

Methods for Expressing Robot Intent for Human–Robot Collaboration in Shared Workspaces

Human–robot collaboration is becoming increasingly common in factories around the world; accordingly, we need to improve the interaction experiences between humans and robots working in these spaces. In this article, we report on a user study that investigated methods for providing information to a person about a robot’s intent to move when working together in a shared workspace through signals provided by the robot. In this case, the workspace was the surface of a tabletop. Our study tested the effectiveness of three motion-based and three light-based intent signals as well as the overall level of comfort participants felt while working with the robot to sort colored blocks on the tabletop. Although not significant, our findings suggest that the light signal located closest to the workspace—an LED bracelet located closest to the robot’s end effector—was the most noticeable and least confusing to participants. These findings can be leveraged to support human–robot collaborations in shared spaces.

Applying Crowd Risk Mitigation Technologies in Urban Sport Events

In recent years, the need for advanced precautions for mitigating the risks imposed by events, which involve high volumes of people in shared spaces, has multiplied. The occurrence of COVID-19 pandemic has further altered event practices, spaces, and event attendees’ mindsets in large-scale events. Proper crowd management not only seeks to prevent acts of violence and injury, but in today’s event environments; efforts should be consciously applied to reduce the spread of respiratory infections such as COVID-19. As the events industry continues to evolve and face new limitations, ways in which event organizers respond must evolve as well. Smartphone technologies are opening new ways for event organizers to communicate with and monitor attendees. This case study explores current crowd management strategies, analyzes the gaps in widely used models, and finally proposes event management technologies trending in the field.

From Back-yards to Stacked-yards: An Alternative High-Rise Housing Model

<p>Current intensified housing is not perceived by New Zealanders as desirable... Critiques are extensive and the loss of quality, private, outdoor space is decidedly felt. Densification is one of the solutions to our housing shortage and the needs of our increasingly diverse population. Densification has already been set in motion by local councils, but consumer uptake is too slow. Public perception is tarnished by stigma which is reinforced by the repeated failures of the developer-driven apartment market. This calls for new typologies of high-density housing to increase diversity and compatibility. Back-yards to Stack-yards investigates how to improve the design of dense, urban housing typologies for the New Zealand context. This thesis aims to address the most common local critique of apartment living: the lack the failure to provide and support an inviting sense of the outdoors. Outdoor space of all ownership types contributes positively to the dwelling environment. The backyard is identified as a benchmark for enriching the dwelling, providing an array of beneficial affordances. Key are the notions of the quiet sanctuary and the outdoor room that can be completely personalised. This thesis primarily follows a design-led, research method where major learnings are extracted through critical reflections. A strong understanding of resident experience is required and is deduced through an ongoing, in-depth literature review and critical case study analyses. Understanding the resident experience provides key insights into what is lacking from common apartments at a human scale, as well as strategies for improvement. The focus is on the relations, effects and affordances of the amenities and spaces, rather than the typical, simplistic itemisation, allowing for a better breakdown and reconfiguration of factors. Possible solutions and strategies were tested on a central-city fringe site in Wellington. This is a zone where dense, residential development and re-development is already taking place due to population growth. The design outcome is a high-rise multi-unit development. It demonstrates the rich possibilities of a high-rise design with a range of outdoor and shared spaces as well as improved opportunities for personalisation and flexibility.</p>

From Back-yards to Stacked-yards: An Alternative High-Rise Housing Model

<p>Current intensified housing is not perceived by New Zealanders as desirable... Critiques are extensive and the loss of quality, private, outdoor space is decidedly felt. Densification is one of the solutions to our housing shortage and the needs of our increasingly diverse population. Densification has already been set in motion by local councils, but consumer uptake is too slow. Public perception is tarnished by stigma which is reinforced by the repeated failures of the developer-driven apartment market. This calls for new typologies of high-density housing to increase diversity and compatibility. Back-yards to Stack-yards investigates how to improve the design of dense, urban housing typologies for the New Zealand context. This thesis aims to address the most common local critique of apartment living: the lack the failure to provide and support an inviting sense of the outdoors. Outdoor space of all ownership types contributes positively to the dwelling environment. The backyard is identified as a benchmark for enriching the dwelling, providing an array of beneficial affordances. Key are the notions of the quiet sanctuary and the outdoor room that can be completely personalised. This thesis primarily follows a design-led, research method where major learnings are extracted through critical reflections. A strong understanding of resident experience is required and is deduced through an ongoing, in-depth literature review and critical case study analyses. Understanding the resident experience provides key insights into what is lacking from common apartments at a human scale, as well as strategies for improvement. The focus is on the relations, effects and affordances of the amenities and spaces, rather than the typical, simplistic itemisation, allowing for a better breakdown and reconfiguration of factors. Possible solutions and strategies were tested on a central-city fringe site in Wellington. This is a zone where dense, residential development and re-development is already taking place due to population growth. The design outcome is a high-rise multi-unit development. It demonstrates the rich possibilities of a high-rise design with a range of outdoor and shared spaces as well as improved opportunities for personalisation and flexibility.</p>

Occupations and Prisons: Writing, Thought and Affected Spaces Apropos Patricia Heras, Marina Garcés and Mireia Sallarès

Starting from texts by poet and activist Patricia Heras, philosopher Marina Garcés, and artist Mireia Sallarès, this article will focus on the affective value of spaces in the public sphere. Heras, Garcés and Sallarès converge in an emotional appropriation of shared spaces that generates new forms of commitment to the community. Their works also constitute synergic affective atmospheres that confer value on anonymous or stigmatised subjects. Space and emotion are thus united in emotopes that, starting from individual experiences, transcend them to become incipient symbols of the transformation of a city, the resistance to the state authority or the survival of a country wounded by wars.

House Conversions and Sharing for an Ageing Population in New Zealand

<p>With the rise in the number of people aged 65+ in New Zealand, it seems increasingly important that there is a supply of appropriate housing so they can remain in their communities and ‘age in place’ for as long as possible. Evidence from both literature and statistics showed a mismatch between current and projected household characteristics and the existing housing supply in New Zealand. Therefore, this research investigated the potential for converting existing dwellings to address the housing shortfall and ageing in place in New Zealand. The aim was to make the selected houses both smaller and more age-friendly, as a means of achieving ‘ageing in place’ in well designed, and easy to heat and maintain homes. Two New Zealand housing types were investigated (villa and state house). Using the New Zealand Lifemark 3-star standard, both were redesigned with different degrees of shared space. Three designs were produced for each house, ranging from subdivision (conversion to two smaller units), to having some shared spaces such as a guest bedroom, to private en-suite bedsitting-rooms and all living spaces shared. Using a mixed methods approach, the schemes were evaluated by client and expert participants in three steps. 1. The aim of the questionnaire-based survey was to obtain comments on the conversions, particularly regarding the levels of sharing. Following the two pilot surveys and subsequent revisions, a web and paper-based questionnaire survey was undertaken by 441 respondents aged 55-85. 2. To assess the designs and specifically whether they incorporated appropriate housing standards for people aged 55+, they were evaluated by five built environment and ageing population experts. 3. To probe the reasons behind the survey results, two rounds of client focus groups of 17 participants aged 55+ were conducted. What was clear from the results, and which aligns with other studies, was that a high proportion of older people would prefer to age in place, either in their existing house or in a more suitable dwelling within their community. However, the cost of house conversions was perceived as problematic, as people felt that they would not be in a position to afford to do this, even if they could sell or let the new unit they would not occupy. On the other hand, the significant benefits of upgrading a house for older people include reduced energy bills through effective design strategies, such as thermal insulation and double-glazed windows, and incorporation of future-proof design features such as the installation of assistive devices like stair lifts. Generally, schemes with higher degrees of sharing were not attractive to many respondents and those aged 75-85 were more likely to dislike these than the younger age groups. However, both expert and client groups agreed the acceptability of sharing depends on people’s personal preferences, culture, and background. Findings from this research also show that having a spare multi-purpose room, a private deck and a good-sized dwelling with plenty of sunlight are features most people wanted. This research suggests that people aged 55–85 have very specific housing needs when it comes to ageing in place. Therefore, to ensure their requirements are met and dwellings are usable, engaging potential users in the design process at an early stage is essential.</p>