Band of Brothers…and Bolts

In a team, the strong bonds that can form between teammates are often seen as critical for reaching peak performance. This perspective may need to be reconsidered, however, if some team members are autonomous robots since establishing bonds with fundamentally inanimate and expendable objects may prove counterproductive. Previous work has measured empathic responses towards robots as singular events at the conclusion of experimental sessions but in team missions, the potential of sustained empathy between teammates is of concern since it may impact upon mission critical decisions. We created TEAMMATE, a game-like simulation to measure how user behavior vary over time as a result of feelings towards a robot teammate. Our findings suggest that inducing empathy through a back story narrative can significantly change participant decisions in actions that may have consequences for a robot companion over time. The results of our study can have strong implications for the overall performance of human machine teams.

Bio:

James Wen hails from Queens, New York, and while pursing a major in astrophysics at Cornell University to realize his dream of being an astronaut, he got distracted by his interests in art and computers, finding himself graduating with a second major in computer science and having his traditionally animated films screened at festivals. Foregoing a scholarship to MIT's Media Lab--a decision he still questions--he joined IBM Research Yorktown Heights and built a system for visualizing abstract algebraic entities before earning a masters degree in visualization from Brown University as a Presidential Scholar. Finding visualization involved a great amount of interaction, he made his way into designing user interfaces as a freelancer, a senior developer at amazon.com, and as a serial entrepreneur. His user interface work naturally led to an interest in user experience, which led him back to academia, working with Mark Billinghurst on a doctoral dissertation at the University of Canterbury to dig into how the use of mobile technologies affected our cognitive abilities. His fascination with this area naturally led him to the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at the United States Air Force Academy, investigating into how people and robots bond in human-machine teams. Outside of work, James has a meandered almost as much in his travels as in his academic interests, having shoestring traveled his way through over 70 countries.


If anyone would like to meet with James please visit this link and edit the schedule:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d024zOdSR8yAehH-9u6KAbL_j6FYKPna7P2GFd--kmg/edit?usp=sharing