Andrea L. Thomaz

**Airicist** · 2nd April 2015, 18:15

Director of Socially Intelligent Machines Lab

Co-founder and CEO of Diligent Robotics Inc.

linkedin.com/in/andreathomaz

Projects:

Controlling social dynamics with a parametrized model of floor regulation

**Airicist** · 2nd April 2015, 18:46

RI Seminar: Andrea Thomaz : Designing Learning Interactions for Robots

Published on Apr 12, 2013

RI Seminar: Designing Learning Interactions for Robots
Andrea Thomaz
Georgia Tech

February 22, 2013

Abstract
In this talk I present recent work from the Socially Intelligent Machines Lab at Georgia Tech. One of the focuses of our lab is on Socially Guided Machine Learning, building robot systems that can learn from everyday human teachers. We look at standard Machine Learning interactions and redesign interfaces and algorithms to support the collection of learning input from naive humans. This talk starts with an initial investigation comparing self and social learning which motivates our recent work on Active Learning for robots. Then, I will present results from a study of robot active learning, which motivates two challenges: getting interaction timing right, and asking good questions. To address the first challenge we are building computational models of reciprocal social interactions. And to address the second challenge we are developing algorithms for generating Active Learning queries in embodied learning tasks.

Speaker Biography
Andrea L. Thomaz is an Assistant Professor of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She directs the Socially Intelligent Machines lab, which is affiliated with the Robotics and Intelligent Machines (RIM) Center and with the Graphics Visualization and Usability (GVU) Center. She earned a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999, and Sc.M. and Ph.D. degrees from MIT in 2002 and 2006. Dr. Thomaz is published in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Human-Robot Interaction, and Human-Computer Interaction. She received an ONR Young Investigator Award in 2008, and an NSF CAREER award in 2010. Her work has been featured in the front page of the New York Times, and in 2009 she was named one of MIT Technology Review's TR 35.

**Airicist** · 7th November 2017, 21:02

Published on Dec 16, 2015

The next frontier in robotics: social, collaborative robots | Andrea Thomaz | TEDxPeachtree

Roboticist Andrea Thomaz gives us an under-the-hood peak at what is coming in the field of Robotics where robots will eventually be able to function and collaborate with humans as naturally as humans do with each other in social situations.

Andrea Thomaz knows robots. Her work developing robots that don't need programming to perform every task and that can collaborate side by side with humans as assistants, domestic help, etc. has been recognized by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research. Her work with social robots “Simon” and “Curi” has been featured in the New York Times and on NOVA Science Now.

In 2012, Thomaz was named to Popular Science Magazine’s “Brilliant 10” and she was named an “Innovator under 35” by MIT Technology Review in 2009. She is an Associate Professor of Interactive Computing at the Georgia Tech and director of the Socially Intelligent Machines lab. She earned a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1999, and Sc.M. and Ph.D. degrees from MIT in 2002 and 2006. Thomaz has published in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Human-Robot Interaction.