Stopping Is Not the Same as Showing You'll Stop
■ It stopped, and it was still scary
Mr. Iwata was walking down a straight hallway on crutches. Hakobukun came toward him and did not change direction until it was right in front of him, then stopped dead. "I can stop. I am safe." Mr. Iwata answered that he knew it could stop. What scared him was not knowing until it did.
■ People read a robot's intent from how it moves
In a report on hospital delivery robots in the U.S. (KQED), people said the robots, though built to avoid people, look like they are coming straight at you and might knock you over. In fact they stop short. But the person in front has to brace until they do. For someone on crutches or in a wheelchair, stepping aside quickly is hard.
■ Conclusion: Turn early, and show you are making way
Now Hakobukun turns early, far away, and keeps to the edge of the hallway. "I will turn early, so you can see I'm moving aside." A robot's ability to stop is invisible to others. What they see is how it moves.
Safety is both being able to stop and letting people know you will.
