Exploring the effect of robot hand configurations in directional gestures for human-robot interaction

In this work we explore the effectiveness of a three-fingered robotic gripper in accurately expressing directional instructions (move up, down, left, right) as gestures emulating human hand gestures. Such gestures can be necessary in noisy manufacturing environments where verbal communication is ineffective. Three studies are conducted. In Study 1 we explore hand configurations that human dyads use for nonverbal instruction (n = 17). In Study 2 we examine which hand-configurations from Study 1 are most accurately understood by observers (n = 140). In Study 3 we compare performance between a robot arm performing similar motions to those of human study participants using either an unposed or posed three-fingered robotic gripper (n =100) to observe the importance of the hand's pose. Recognition rates of directional gestures for both the human and the robot are examined. Results indicate that most gestures are better and more confidently recognized when displayed with the posed robot hand.