Visual signals help robots share intentions for smoother teamwork
Visual Proactivity: Enhancing Human-Robot Collaboration Through Intent Communication
Robotics
Summary
Robots that work with people need to understand what humans want to do, but it’s also important that robots let people know what they plan to do. The authors created a simple way for robots to show their intentions visually, making it easier for humans to understand and collaborate with them. They tested this idea in a handover task where a person hands something to a robot. The results showed that when robots clearly communicate what they intend to do, people and robots work together more smoothly and predictably.
What this means in practice
- •For industrial automation teams: Design robotic systems that visually signal their intended actions to improve coordination with human workers during shared tasks.
- •For assistive robotics developers: Use visual intent cues in robots to guide user behavior and increase safety and fluency in close human-robot assistance scenarios.
Authors
Valerio Bo, Edison Bejarano, Anaís Garrell, Alberto Sanfeliu
Abstract
As robots transition from performing repetitive tasks to collaborating with humans, understanding human intent becomes crucial to effective interaction. Anticipation enables robots to predict human actions, while proactivity allows them to take initiative and guide human behavior toward optimal outcomes. Although research has largely focused on how robots infer and respond to human intentions, less attention has been paid to how robots communicate their own intent. This paper introduces visual proactivity, a novel, simple yet effective approach that enables robots to communicate their intentions through visual feedback, influencing human behavior and enhancing transparency and fluency. We develop and evaluate proactive robotic behaviors in a human-to-robot handover scenario, where a user study validates human perception of reactive, anticipatory, and proactive behaviors. The results demonstrate that effective visual proactivity fosters better alignment and coordination, paving the way for more intuitive human-robot collaboration.