Researcher Fabrice Lefèvre, director of the LIA, is heading the ANANDABOT project, selected in the second call for research projects (AAP2) of the PEPR eNSEMBLE. The project, coordinated by Avignon University, received funding of €978,772, with €316,051 allocated to the university.
The primary objective of AnandaBot is to develop a robot capable of assisting humans in collaborative tasks, operating at the intersection of human-robot interaction and artificial intelligence. The research will be tested in a gerontology day hospital context to provide support to the elderly.
Addressing the limitations of fully automated solutions for collaborative verbal tasks, the project proposes a new human-(human/robot) interaction paradigm. AnandaBot is envisioned as an engaging, stimulating, and dedicated companion, inspired by the relationship between Ananda and Buddha.
Development will focus on a multimodal processing chain for triadic verbal interactions. Key functions include audiovisual scene analysis, speech recognition and understanding, simulation and detection of emotions in robotic interaction, and dialogue and decision-making management.
The experimental framework will involve collaborations with elderly individuals, psychologists for cognitive tests, and healthcare assistants. The project will prioritize local and sovereign solutions, respecting privacy, and favor resource-limited approaches for deployment on common computer hardware.
