Talks by Damith C Herath

The Floating Head Experiment
On October 26th 2010, a unique HRI-artistic public experiment took place at the UsineC theater, i... more On October 26th 2010, a unique HRI-artistic public experiment took place at the UsineC theater, in Montreal. It was the result of a many-months collaboration between the Montreal based lab hosting the [ VOILES | SAILS ] research-creation platform (Self-Assembling Intelligent Ligther-thanair Structures) and the well-known Australian artist Stelarc and his team, who work on artificial agents' embodiment and robotic behaviour modeling. The [ VOILES | SAILS ] project, consisting in the development of flying autonomous robots of geometrical shape, was born from architect and artist Nicolas Reeves' will to evoke the age-old myth of an architecture freed from the law of gravity. These aerobots are meant to be use in artistic installations or performances. An aerobot was combined to Stelarc's artwork named ”The Prosthetic Head”, which consists in the 5-meters-high projection of a 3D avatar linked to a chatbot-like discussion engine in order to interact with the visitors. Stelarc's artworks development is supported by different universities labs, among which the MARCS Auditory Laboratory in the University of Western Sydney plays a major role. Its team has transposed this artwork into ”The Articulated Head”, a new version that is embodied via a LCD screen attached at the end of a 6-DoF industrial robotic arm. Thanks to various sensing devices (stereo-camera for people tracking, sound location, proprioception, proximity sensors...), they managed to develop an attention model to control the robot's behaviour. This model, called THAMBS (Thinking Head Attention Model and Behavioral System), adopted a modular approach which allows its adaptation to different sensing abilities and to future robot embodiments. Through intensive international collaboration between Stelarc, the THAMBS and the [ VOILES | SAILS ] teams, we managed to realize a performance during which Stelarc's synthetic head was projected onto a large floating cube, whose movement- and displacements in the air conveyed the head's emotions and impressions to the audience. This ambitious collaboration between the two research programs for the creation of a unique new embodiment of ”The Prosthetic Head” led to relevant observations that will be the object of a future paper.
Papers by Damith C Herath
A study on wearable robotics — Comfort is in the context
WITU (Wearable Indoor Tracking Unit) is a wearable robotic device that aids indoor navigation by ... more WITU (Wearable Indoor Tracking Unit) is a wearable robotic device that aids indoor navigation by building maps and localizing the user within them. Applications of such a device include search and rescue, travel aid in large and complex buildings, museum guides among others where external localization information such as from a GPS is not available. However, WITU relies on human
同時自己位置地図獲得手法を用いた自律型ロボットの環境認識 : ダイナミカル局所ボロノイ分割による逐次経路計画(機械力学,計測,自動制御)
日本機械学會論文集. C編, Mar 25, 2005
同時自己位置地図獲得手法を用いた自律型ロボットの環境認識(ダイナミカル局所ボロノイ分割による逐次経路計画):ダイナミカル局所ボロノイ分割による逐次経路計画
日本機械学会論文集 C編, 2005
Robotic Art – The Aesthetics of Machine Communication
SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks, 2023
Performance Analysis of a Postural Balance Assessment Mat Prototype Using Inertial Sensor
2022 IEEE Sensors, Oct 30, 2022
Encounters
Robots at home and work has been a key theme in science fiction since the genre began. It is only... more Robots at home and work has been a key theme in science fiction since the genre began. It is only now that we see this come in to realization, albeit in very basic forms such as the robot vacuum cleaners and various entertainment robotic platforms. In this video we highlight a number of projects woven around the iRobot Create research
Foundations of Robotics, 2022
In this chapter, you will learn about: • The robot localisation problem • The robot mapping probl... more In this chapter, you will learn about: • The robot localisation problem • The robot mapping problem • The Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) problem • Common probabilistic state estimation techniques • The Kalman filter and the role of the extended Kalman filter as a recursive state estimator in nonlinear systems.
Robots and Aged Care: A Case Study Assessing Implementation of Service Robots in an Aged Care Home
2023 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN)
You will learn about: • Controllers and control techniques used in robotics, including the PID co... more You will learn about: • Controllers and control techniques used in robotics, including the PID controller • Mobile robot locomotion types • Robot path planning and obstacle avoidance. 8.2 Introduction When we think of robots, we think of them as manipulators, such as in manufacturing facilities where they are fixed to a location or robots that are moving about (Fig. 8.1). Robots that move around in the environment are called mobile robots. This chapter looks at mobile robots, how to control them, different locomotion types and algorithms used for planning paths, and obstacle avoidance while navigating.
This chapter explores a framework and some of the main building blocks in developing robots. You ... more This chapter explores a framework and some of the main building blocks in developing robots. You will learn about: • The Sense, Think, Act loop. • Different types of sensors that make robots 'feel' the world and find suitable sensors for use in specific scenarios. • Algorithms that make the robots' 'intelligent'. • Actuators that make robots move. • Commonly used computer vision algorithms that make robots 'see'.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2018
Researching human-robot interaction "in-the-wild" can sometimes require insight from different fi... more Researching human-robot interaction "in-the-wild" can sometimes require insight from different fields. Experiments that involve collaborative tasks are valuable opportunities for studying HRI and developing new tools. The following describes a framework for an "in the wild" experiment situated in a public museum that involved a Wizard of OZ (WOZ) controlled robot. The UR10 is a non-humanoid collaborative robot arm and was programmed to engage in a collaborative drawing task. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how movement by a nonhumanoid robot could affect participant experience. While the current framework is designed for this particular task, the control architecture could be built upon to provide a base for various collaborative studies.
Can Synthetic Data Improve Multi-Class Counting of Surgical Instruments?
2022 International Conference on Digital Image Computing: Techniques and Applications (DICTA)

Foundations of Robotics, 2022
This chapter introduces you to the basic steps in designing and conducting social robotics resear... more This chapter introduces you to the basic steps in designing and conducting social robotics research. By the end of this chapter you will: 1. Be able to describe why you are conducting your research project, including your motivation for conducting the research, who the audience is for your findings, and the key research questions you will be addressing. 2. Be able to identify the key variables you want to focus on and understand how to operationalise these variables in real research environments. 3. Be able to recognise different types of research designs, know advantages and disadvantages of each, and work out which is appropriate in which situation. 4. Be aware of the concepts of validity and reliability, and be able to both identify and address issues that can emerge. 5. Understand the key principles to consider when designing and conducting ethical research. 6. Identify key factors when analysing and interpreting data.
Foundations of Robotics, 2022
• to know how to use (run and launch) ROS nodes and packages; • to understand the messaging struc... more • to know how to use (run and launch) ROS nodes and packages; • to understand the messaging structure, including topics and services; • to know about some of the core modules of ROS, including the Gazebo simulator, ROSbags, MoveIt! and the navigation stack.
arXiv (Cornell University), Nov 14, 2022
Software is an essential part of robotics. In this chapter, we will be looking at some of the key... more Software is an essential part of robotics. In this chapter, we will be looking at some of the key concepts in programming and several tools we use in robotics. At the end of the chapter, you will be able to: • Develop a familiarity with common programming languages used in robotics • Learn about the fundamental programming constructs and apply them using the Python programming language • Understand the importance of version control and how to use basic commands in Git • Select appropriate tools and techniques needed to develop and deploy code efficiently
Foundations of Robotics, 2022
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:-Understand the current challenges in robotics co... more By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:-Understand the current challenges in robotics course design in higher education-Analyse current teaching practices and innovations in robotics teaching-Reflect on the link between learning theories and pedagogies for designing robotics education-Select and assemble suitable pedagogies and techniques for self-directed learning and development in the field of robotics.

International Journal of Social Robotics
This study explores the impact of appearance and speech on human perceptions of faces in human- r... more This study explores the impact of appearance and speech on human perceptions of faces in human- robot interactions. Three videos were generated depicting the real face of an artist and two virtual versions of the same artist, with increasing resolution and fidelity. Each video was presented with and without speech, with matching levels of fidelity to the faces (real human speech and machine- generated speech of two levels of realism). Participants viewed all six videos and rated them on measures such as convincing, trustworthy, realistic, likable, showed biological movement, reassuring, friendly, familiar, and humanness. We found that the inclusion of speech (real) had a significant positive impact on the impression formation of real human appearance. In contrast, perceptions of the virtual avatars were more negative when speech (machine-like) was incorporated. This study illustrates the differential effects that speech can have on virtual faces in interactive settings.

Robotic Prostheses, Human Sympathy: Performative Contexts for Emotional Realism in the Swarming Emotional Pianos Project
This paper describes the Swarming Emotional Pianos project at the MARCS institute (University of ... more This paper describes the Swarming Emotional Pianos project at the MARCS institute (University of Western Sydney), a collaboration between Canadian sound artist Erin Gee, neurophysiologist Vaughan Macefield, and roboticist Damith Herath. The team is developing robotic instruments that perform the emotional outputs of wired performers through a set of distributed and mobile lamellophone instruments (metallic pianos) that perform through wireless communication. Emotional outputs are charted by invasive intra-neural recordings of skin sympathetic nerve activity (SSNA) through microelectrode needles, which are then coupled with non-invasive physiological measures during emotional arousal. These technologies illustrate to what degree the performer feels an emotion on a physiological level relative to neural activity. This artwork has roots in more “abstract” explorations of sympathy, performativity, presence and the body established in 1970s performance art, extending this through technologies that provide for aesthetics of real-time emotional “realism” through embodiment and sonic cultures. Swarming Emotional Pianos: Robotic Prostheses for Emotional Expression Though emotion may have once been considered a domain best left to artistic expression, science is continuously mapping emotion as embodied phenomena stimulated through a combination of memory, perception, and embodied reactions to the environment. Neurophysiology in particular is providing a rich terrain for reconsidering the body in relation to its personal, inner experiences, questioning how one’s body might react to external stimuli in the construction of these inner states. In collaboration with neurophysiologist Vaughan Macefield and roboticist Dr Damith Herath, I am participating in a one-year artist residency at the MARCS Institute at University of Western Sydney, investigating artistic applications for sonifying emotional data, and representing it through robotic instruments. Thus far, my practice in sonic art has manifested in works that explore human voices in electronic bodies, and electronic voices in human bodies. In this residency I extend this through an exploration of what one might consider a voice or a body when confronted with mechanical prosthetic. Ultimately I assert that technology might one day not merely be parasitic or prosthetic in relation to the human body, but something internalized and a part of one’s subjectivity and human identity as a voice. I work in the tradition of a trained opera singer as such, realizing that the act of singing, expression and language are equally mental, physical, technical and expressive. I seek aesthetic experiences that might extend my relationship with my voice to my relationship with other devices that externalize and extend my internal experiences to the world around me. During the residency, our team will be developing a performance artwork that creates music composition through real-time processing of physiological markers of emotion. While the field of biotechnological performance has already provided us with works exploring these relationships, namely Valery Vermeulen’s EMOsynth
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Talks by Damith C Herath
Papers by Damith C Herath