Using Semiotic Inspection Method to Evaluate a Human-Robot Interface

The number of robots being used in society by people who are not robotics specialists is growing. Specificities in human-robot interaction (HRI) make the quality of the interaction with robots essential, and have also driven a number of proposals adapting HCI methods to HRI. This work investigates the applicability of the semiotic inspection method, which is based on semiotic engineering theory, to HRI contexts without the need of adaptations. By applying the method to a simple interface to control a robot named e-puck, we were able to find evidence that the method can be applied satisfactorily and also generate a better account of some HRI issues. Moreover, differently from other methods, semiotic inspection can be used to HRI without any adaptations.