On Leadership and Influence in Human-Swarm Interaction

In this position paper, we synthesize "within the system" models of human influence over bio-inspired swarms, summarizing observations from previous experiments and identifying methods of influence that have not yet been explored. We describe (a) differences among agents that can be controlled by a human and those that can't, (b) agents that are aware of the type of other agents and those that aren't, and (c) the effects of attraction, repulsion, and orientation on human-guided swarm behavior. We also briefly discuss the interaction effort required to manage swarms.