Willow Garage

About: Willow Garage is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Robot & Mobile robot. The organization has 76 authors who have published 191 publications receiving 28617 citations.

Point cloud data hierarchy

Abstract: One embodiment is directed to a system for presenting views of a very large point data set, comprising: a storage system comprising data representing a point cloud comprising a very large number of associated points; a controller operatively coupled to the storage cluster and configured to automatically and deterministically organize the point data into an octree hierarchy of data sectors, each of which is representative of one or more of the points at a given octree mesh resolution; and a user interface through which a user may select a viewing perspective origin and vector, which may be utilized to command the controller to assemble an image based at least in part upon the selected origin and vector, the image comprising a plurality of data sectors pulled from the octree hierarchy

Mixing metaphors in mobile remote presence

Abstract: Metaphors for making sense of new communication technologies are important for setting user expectations about appropriate use of the technologies. When users do not share a common metaphorical model for using these technologies, interpersonal communication breakdowns can occur. Through a set of three 8-week-long field deployments and one ongoing observation in-house, we conducted contextual inquiries around the uses of a relatively new communication technology, a mobile remote presence (MRP) system. We observed many nonhuman-like metaphors (e.g., orienting toward the system as a robot, an object) and human-like metaphors (e.g., a person, or a person with disabilities). These metaphors influence people's expectations about social norms in using the systems. We found that there is a serious risk of creating interpersonal conflict when the metaphors are mismatched between people (e.g., locals use nonhuman-like metaphors when remote pilots use human-like metaphors). We explore the implications for understanding remote pilots' rights and responsibilities and present design guidelines for MRP systems that support geographically distributed groups.

Community insights: helping community leaders enhance the value of enterprise online communities

Abstract: Online communities are increasingly being deployed in enterprises to increase productivity and share expertise. Community leaders are critical for fostering successful communities, but existing technologies rarely support leaders directly, both because of a lack of clear data about leader needs, and because existing tools are member- rather than leader-centric. We present the evidence-based design and evaluation of a novel tool for community leaders, Community Insights (CI). CI provides actionable analytics that help community leaders foster healthy communities, providing value to both members and the organization. We describe empirical and system contributions derived from a long-term deployment of CI to leaders of 470 communities over 10 months. Empirical contributions include new data showing: (a) which metrics are most useful for leaders to assess community health, (b) the need for and how to design actionable metrics, (c) the need for and how to design contextualized analytics to support sensemaking about community data. These findings motivate a novel community system that provides leaders with useful, actionable and contextualized analytics.

One of the gang: supporting in-group behavior for embodied mediated communication

Abstract: As an emerging technology that enables geographically distributed work teams, mobile remote presence (MRP) systems present new opportunities for supporting effective team building and collaboration. MRP systems are physically embodied mobile videoconferencing systems that remote co-workers control. These systems allow remote users, pilots, to actively initiate conversations and to navigate throughout the local environment. To investigate ways of encouraging team-like behavior among local and remote co-workers, we conducted a 2 (visual framing: decoration vs. no decoration) x 2 (verbal framing: interdependent vs. independent performance scoring) between-participants study (n=40). We hypothesized that verbally framing the situation as interdependent and visually framing the MRP system to create a sense of self-extension would enhance group cohesion between the local and the pilot. We found that the interdependent framing was successful in producing more in-group oriented behaviors and, contrary to our predictions, visual framing of the MRP system weakened team cohesion.

Using depth information to improve face detection

Abstract: The information available to a robot through a variety of sensors and contextual awareness is rich and unique. In this paper, we have argued that depth and context can improve frontal face detection, in turn improving the ability of robots to interact with humans, and supported this claim with encouraging preliminary experimental results. As future work, we will attempt to apply the same concepts to the much more difficult problem of detecting faces in profile, further expanding the population with which a robot can interact.