What Can Actors Teach Robots About Interaction?

In this paper, we describe our initial experiences using a mobile robot as a teaching aid in a stage movement class, taught in the Performing Arts Department of Washington University in St. Louis. The robot participated in a number of exercises, intended to teach the fundamentals of movement, and interacted closely with human acting students. We describe these exercises, what they are designed to teach the students, and discuss how using a robot as a teaching aid can enhance the students' experience. We describe two classes in which a robot participated, one under tele-operation and one fully autonomously, and discuss both the students' reaction to the robots, and our subjective evaluations of the systems success.