The fact that we can see each other face to face in the distance has become so natural with the appearance of video calls. However, the desire to touch each other in the distance is far from being resolved. We developed a pair of devices that can transmit touch sense through the shoulder such as tapping, caressing, and pressing. The touch sensors on a telepresence robot transmit touch feedback to a remote user wearing a haptic vest via wireless communication.

The primary concern of this study is to explore children's engagement and learning experiences in distant learning environments using three different videoconferencing technologies—two traditional screen-based videoconferencing technologies and a remotely-controlled telepresence robot. To truthfully capture the perspectives of the children, we employed multiple data collection methods—rating scales, narratives, ranking scales, and one-on-one interviews, as well as observation of nonverbal cues. Our findings suggest that participants reacted more positively to interactions via telepresence robot than to screen-based video-conferencing.

In this paper, a STEAM education was developed by applying intelligent product design. One promising approach to improve children's STEAM attitudes, knowledge, and skills is to utilize robotics in the program. As an intelligent product is a robot with the shape of the common object, intelligent product design could allow children to learn robotics and product design. Field trial of STEAM education was held at a Korean elementary school for two weeks. After the field trial, children evaluated the perception toward a common product and a developed intelligent product. The results showed that the intelligent product was perceived more positively and intelligent than the common product.

This Paper seeks to observe the changes in children from low-income families after being exposed to education through humanoid robots. An outreach education as it is, the study primarily focuses on the benefits of the said type of education.

In this paper, we examined how the presentation of a remote participant (in our context the remote teacher) in a mobile remote presence (MRP) system affects social interaction, such as closeness and engagement. Using ROBOSEM, a MRP robot, we explored the effect of the presentation of the remote teacher's head size shown on ROBOSEM's screen at three different levels: small, medium, and large. We hypothesized that a medium sized head of the remote teacher shown on the MRP system would be better than a small or large sized head in terms of closeness, engagement, and learning. Our preliminary study results suggest that the size of a remote teacher's head may have an impact on “students' perception of the remote teacher's closeness” and on “students' engagement”. However, we did not observe any difference in terms of “learning”.

To investigate how children interact differently when interactions are mediated with screen-based video communication versus a robot-mediated communication, we conducted a study with elementary students in Korea, comparing the use of both technologies to introduce classroom students with peer-aged individuals in America. Our findings show that the classroom children showed more positive emotion during certain tasks and exhibited more interest to remote participants in the context of robot-mediated communication than with video-mediated communication.

Educational service robots that have been developed for language learning can be divided into the `tele-operated type' and `autonomous type'. This paper analyses a monitor-based face design for the autonomous type in the English learning of children. This experiment, which targeted elementary school students, shows that iconic or cartoon - like faces are preferred to realistic robot faces.

According to studies confirming that robot assisted learning (RAL) can positively contribute to improving learners' motivation and achievement for language learning [1, 4], RAL is facing its diffusion through the demand of parents and government. However, the biggest obstacle to the long-term interaction between humans and robots is the robots' low-success rate of visual and voice recognition, as well as the limitation of artificial intelligence for the daily-life HRI [3]. This study demonstrated ROBOSEM's ability to sustain long term interaction between children and a robot in an elementary English class from the pilot studies with IROBIQ, called Langbot [1]. Five factors are of concern in sustaining the long-term interaction between children and ROBOSEM, as shown in Figure 2: (1) enhancing the recognition ability of ROBOSEM with class materials, such as marker hats, bracelet watches embodied RFID tags, Wiimocon, etc; (2) sharing the birth story of ROBOSEM, which works to increase children's tolerance toward weak recognition from the result of [2]; (3) making a favorable impression, such as by flashing children's faces on the screen; (4) telling the history of a child's personal learning activities; and (5) tele-operation by the intelligence of a human being.

Participating in a play is one of integral curriculum for young children at nurseries and kindergartens. At the same time, it is not very easy to successfully run and manage a play for young children due to their low age and immaturity. Scripts are difficult to memorize and children's attention span is quite short. We are exploring the use of a robot and augmented reality (AR) technology to assist the nursery teachers in hopes to alleviate the difficult and complicated task of running the play, and also as a way to increase the learning effect by promoting the concentration and immersion (by the presence of the robot and novelty of the augmented display) [1, 2, 3]. For this purpose, we have devised a semi-autonomous remote-controlled projector robot with the capabilities of background projection and control, generating the synthesized augmented view, camera/movement control, producing story narration and various special effects. We have recently deployed the robot assistant for a play ('Three Little Pigs') at an actual nursery to observe and investigate various aspects of human robot interaction. For instance, the robot interacts with the actors on stage, leading and guiding them by showing (with small display on the robot) the synthesized augmented view, script guidance, and putting forth and changing the backdrop projection. It also assumes the role of the camera man and may instigate minute interplay with the actor as it zooms in and out on actors (by remote control). Our initial observation indicated that the use of the robot and AR indeed exhibited very high potential in drawing the attention of the children and enhancing the educational effect, but required the right amount of autonomy and external control and an intuitive interface.

Various studies propose that robots can be an effective tool for language teaching and learning. Especially they have been remarkably successful in elementary English classes [1][2][3][4]. The purpose of this study was to investigate some effects of a teaching assistant robot, Langbot, in elementary English classes in Korea. We adopted IROBIQ as Longbot for a pilot study.

The r-Learning paradigm with educational robots is emerging as a part of e-Learning, which means using technology for learning. This study on using robots as a teaching assistant robot opened the possibility of r-Learning for English in classroom. We found that children like robot services for personal relationship in class and teachers prefer them related to their convenience to manage the lesson. Related robot services such as praising and cheering up or calling the roll are the effective way for motivating children to learn, enhancing the relationship between TIRO and children. We are going on conducting further field trials for new scenarios and services that motivate children and make them concentrate on class with teachers, pre-teachers, children, parents, robotic researchers, social scientists, etc.

Lately, there has been increasing field studies harnessing robots for educational purposes. Various studies into teaching assistant robots (or peer tutoring robots), in particular, are proving to be effective tools of language education because robots are remarkably successful in eliminating the affective filter. However, there is decreased in their interaction with children as time passes. The biggest obstacle to the interaction between human beings and robots in field studies using robots is its low-success rate of face and voice. Since the recognition of robots is weak in real environment such as classrooms, this causes some of the children to utterly give up interaction with robots or just ignore them. Hur and Han (2009) found that the robot storytelling was working to increase children' s tolerance toward the failure of recognition of a robot. Children want to know where the robot comes from, how old it is, who makes it, and when it was born, before they listen to it or its storytelling. The birth story of IROBIQ on an innate weak recognition was created as shown in Table 1. And then the movie on birth story of IROBIQ was developed as shown in Figure 2, and then the facial expression, action, display of IROBIQ were added to it. Figure 1 is the scene of telling the birth story.

An educational robot has been recognized as an excellent tool for enhancing creativity, problem solving ability, and higher-order thinking skills. Based on this assumption, making the students' own robots with bloc-based robot materials was performed at regular class in elementary schools. After constructing various kinds of robots with their own imagination, most of students seemed to feel achievement, satisfaction, and playfulness. About 43.3% elementary schools operate robot-based instructional program in South Korea.

Humanoids are the most advanced robots and have been expected to act in various fields including education. Thus, it is important to investigate in different cultures what people actually assume when they encounter the word "humanoid robots," from not only a psychological perspective but also an engineering one, focusing on such aspects as design and market of robotics. For this aim, a cross-cultural research instrument, the robot assumptions questionnaire (RAQ) was administered to university students in Japan, Korea, and the USA. As a result, it was found that the Japanese students more strongly assume autonomy, social relationships, and emotional capacity of humanoid robots than the Korean and USA students, and there are more detailed cultural differences of assumptions about humanoids related to daily-life fields, in particular, pedagogical fields. Moreover, it was found that the USA students have more ambivalent images of humanoids than the Japanese students, and the Korean students have more careful attitudes toward humanoid robots than the Japanese students. In addition, the paper discusses engineering implications of the research results.