Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) is a highly multidisciplinary endeavor. However, it often still appears to be an effort driven primarily by technical aims and concerns. We outline some of the major challenges for fruitful interdisciplinary collaboration in HRI, arguing for an improved integration of psychology and applied social sciences and their genuine research agendas. Based on our own disciplinary backgrounds, we discuss these issues from vantage points mostly originating in applied engineering and psychology, but also from relevant related fields such as sociology, communication sciences, philosophy, arts, and design. We take a project-case as an example to discuss grounded and practical challenges in HRI research, and to propose how a combination of artificial intelligence advances and a better conceptual definition of the role of social sciences in HRI research may prove to be beneficial. Our goal is to strengthen the impact and effectiveness of social scientists working in HRI, and thereby better prepare the field for future challenges.

The two applications under development The EMOTE project (http://www.emote-project.eu/) is are a Treasure Hunt exercise designed to teach mapreading working towards the development of an empathic robot tutor skills, and a multi-player game Enercities-2 designed to be used with the 11-14 group and a multi-touch table to teach aspects of sustainable urban development.