DR 2.2: Context and engagement-based strategy selection

In this document we report on the work in work package 2 that relates to context,
engagement, and explanation of robot actions. Context and engagement directly relate to
this deliverable, explanation of robot action relates to work needed for task 2.1 to be able to
implement multi-user explanation of the actions proposed by the system. We have focused
on several fundamental issues in this year. First, can children perceive differences in robot
educational style? This is important for engagement because human teachers use different
styles and the ability to adapt educational style to an individual increases educational
efficiency and effectiveness. Second, we have evaluated (with children and healthcare
professionals) the PAL Control tool developed last year. PAL Control is our health care
professional authoring tool. Again this is important for engagement and also for
contextualized goal setting. Being able to set learning goals appropriately for children
contributes to focusing on an achievable set of goals and contributes to structuring the
learning process. Goal setting has been integrated with the quiz module of the PAL system.
This enables the system to propose educational quizzes dependent on the context as defined
by the learning goals. Third, we have shown in an experiment at a diabetes autumn camp
that children and adults prefer robot action explanations differently. This is important
fundamental knowledge enabling us (in the following years) to define how the agent should
explain its strategy to the children, parents, and healthcare professionals.