ARM-COMS Motor Display System for Active Listening in Remote Communication

Communication involves transferring information from one place, person, or group to another, typically comprising a sender, a message, and a recipient. During interactions, humans exchange various social signals and information. There are two main types of communication: verbal and nonverbal. Even when verbal communication isn't feasible, nonverbal cues like gestures and body movements can facilitate communication. Hence, nonverbal communication plays a vital role in human-robot interaction. Implementing responsive strategies enables the creation of attentive listening systems. Recent research focuses on enhancing robot interactions through attentive listening systems, aiming to establish interfaces that foster affinity and a sense of connection with robots. The authors propose ARM-COMS for remote conferences, utilizing monitors as avatars for remote participants. This interface not only detects remote participants’ head movements to coordinate actions but also responds to the voices of both remote participants and speakers, physically moving the monitor to enhance interaction. This paper explores these differences and discusses the philosophy behind ARM-COMS from the perspective of attentive listening, aiming to enhance interaction with remote participants.