AUTHOR=Mukherjee Debasmita , Gupta Kashish , Najjaran Homayoun TITLE=A Critical Analysis of Industrial Human-Robot Communication and Its Quest for Naturalness Through the Lens of Complexity Theory JOURNAL=Frontiers in Robotics and AI VOLUME=9 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/robotics-and-ai/articles/10.3389/frobt.2022.870477 DOI=10.3389/frobt.2022.870477 ISSN=2296-9144 ABSTRACT=

Human-robot communication is one of the actively researched fields to enable efficient and seamless collaboration between a human and an intelligent industrial robotic system. The field finds its roots in human communication with the aim to achieve the “naturalness” inherent in the latter. Industrial human-robot communication pursues communication with simplistic commands and gestures, which is not representative of an uncontrolled real-world industrial environment. In addition, naturalness in communication is a consequence of its dynamism, typically ignored as a design criterion in industrial human-robot communication. Complexity Theory-based natural communication models allow for a more accurate representation of human communication which, when adapted, could also benefit the field of human-robot communication. This paper presents a perspective by reviewing the state of human-robot communication in industrial settings and then presents a critical analysis of the same through the lens of Complexity Theory. Furthermore, the work identifies research gaps in the aforementioned field, fulfilling which, would propel the field towards a truly natural form of communication. Finally, the work briefly discusses a general framework that leverages the experiential learning of data-based techniques and naturalness of human knowledge.