Visual Interaction Including Biometrics Information for a Socially Assistive Robotic Platform

This work introduces biometrics as a way to improve human-robot interaction. In particular, gender and age estimation algorithms are used to provide awareness of the user biometrics to a humanoid robot (Aldebaran NAO), in order to properly react with a specific gender/age behavior. The system can also manage multiple persons at the same time, recognizing the age and gender of each participant. All the estimation algorithms employed have been validated through a k-fold test and successively practically tested in a real human-robot interaction environment, allowing for a better natural interaction. Our system is able to work at a frame rate of 13 fps with 640×480 images taken from NAO's embedded camera. The proposed application is well-suited for all assisted environments that consider the presence of a socially assistive robot like therapy with disable people, dementia, post-stroke rehabilitation, Alzheimer disease or autism.