RoDiL: Giving Route Directions with Landmarks by Robots

Kanta Tachikawa, Shota Akahori, Kohei Okuoka, Mitsuhiko Kimoto, Michita Imai

2025

Abstract

For social robots, a critical aspect is the design of mechanisms for providing information that is understandable to a human recipient. In tasks such as giving route directions, robots must explain the route clearly to ensure that the user can reach the destination. However, most studies on guiding robots have assumed that the robot will only present a route from its current location without considering the route’s complexity. In this study, we propose a robot guiding system, RoDiL (Route Directions with Landmarks), that aims to guide users along a simple route by leveraging their knowledge of a city, especially when the route from the current location to the destination is complex. Specifically, within the context of user interaction, RoDiL comprehends which landmarks are familiar to the user. Subsequently, RoDiL initiates giving route directions using the landmark familiar to the user as the starting point. We conducted an experimental comparison between landmark-based guidance and non-landmark-based guidance with 100 participants. Landmark-based guidance was evaluated significantly more highly when the direct route from the current location was complex. In contrast, when the route from the current location was simple, non-landmark-based guidance was preferred. These results confirm the efficacy of the RoDiL design criteria.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Tachikawa K., Akahori S., Okuoka K., Kimoto M. and Imai M. (2025). RoDiL: Giving Route Directions with Landmarks by Robots. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 1: ICAART; ISBN 978-989-758-737-5, SciTePress, pages 298-309. DOI: 10.5220/0013131300003890

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icaart25,
author={Kanta Tachikawa and Shota Akahori and Kohei Okuoka and Mitsuhiko Kimoto and Michita Imai},
title={RoDiL: Giving Route Directions with Landmarks by Robots},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 1: ICAART},
year={2025},
pages={298-309},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013131300003890},
isbn={978-989-758-737-5},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 1: ICAART
TI - RoDiL: Giving Route Directions with Landmarks by Robots
SN - 978-989-758-737-5
AU - Tachikawa K.
AU - Akahori S.
AU - Okuoka K.
AU - Kimoto M.
AU - Imai M.
PY - 2025
SP - 298
EP - 309
DO - 10.5220/0013131300003890
PB - SciTePress