Turn-Taking Based on Information Flow for Fluent Human-Robot Interaction

Turn-taking is a fundamental part of human communication. Our goal is to devise a turn-taking framework for human-robot interaction that, like the human skill, represents something fundamental about interaction, generic to context or domain. We propose a model of turn-taking, and conduct an experiment with human subjects to inform this model. Our findings from this study suggest that information flow is an integral part of human floor-passing behavior. Following this, we implement autonomous floor relinquishing on a robot and discuss our insights into the nature of a general turn-taking model for human-robot interaction.