The goal of the session is to explore in depth the topic of common ground in human-robot interactions for elderly individuals. Humans can communicate effectively with other humans because we can reason about what the other person may or may not know at any given point in time, and coordinate what is treated as shared knowledge at any point in time. This coordination requires theory of mind and an understanding about what information is shared between the speakers at any given point in time –a complicated joint task coordinated with facial expressions, nonverbal expressions and word choice. These coordinating systems can be less functional in elderly individuals, meaning that social robots in elderly care scenarios need to do additional work to personalise for what signals the individual may pick up or use; there is a research gap on how such personalisation can be implemented and evaluated.

Date: 2/11/2026

Time: 11:00-13:00

This is an in-person seminar. Participants shall pre-register for the session by sending an email to raquel.ros@iiia.csic.es