Advancing Human-Robot Interaction Research and Benchmarking Through Open-Source Ecosystems

Recent rapid progress in HRI research makes it more crucial than ever to have systematic development and benchmarking methodologies to assess and compare different algorithms and strategies. Indeed, the lack of such methodologies results in inefficiencies and sometimes stagnation, since new methods cannot be effectively compared to prior work and the research gaps become challenging to identify. Moreover, lacking an active and effective mechanism to disseminate and utilize the available datasets and benchmarking protocols significantly reduces their impact and utility. A unified effort in the development, utilization, and dissemination of open-source assets amongst a governed community of users can advance these domains substantially; for HRI, this is particularly needed in the curation and generation of datasets for benchmarking. This workshop will take a step towards removing the roadblocks to the development and assessment of HRI by reviewing, discussing, and laying the groundwork for an open-source ecosystem at the intersection of HRI and robot manipulation. The workshop will play a crucial role for identifying the preconditions and requirements to develop an open-source ecosystem that provides open-source assets for HRI benchmarking and comparison, aiming to determine the needs and wants of HRI researchers. Invited speakers include those who have contributed to the development of open-source assets in HRI and robot manipulation and discussion topics will include issues related to the usage of open-source assets and the benefits of forming of an open-source ecosystem.