Perceptive Recommendation Robot: Enhancing Receptivity of Product Suggestions Based on Customers' Nonverbal Cues.

Service robots that coexist with humans in everyday life have become more common, and they have provided customer service in physical shops around the world in recent years. However, their potential in effective sales strategies has not been fully realized due to their low social presence. This study aims to clarify what kind of robot behavior enhances the social presence of service robots and how it affects human-robot interaction and purchasing behavior.

Base-mediated synthesis of cyclic dithiocarbamates from 1-amino-3-chloropropan-2-ol derivatives and carbon disulfide.

An efficient method for the preparation of six-membered cyclic dithiocarbamates is described, in which triethylamine effectively promotes the reaction of 1-amino-3-chloropropan-2-ol derivatives with carbon disulfide. On the basis of the experimental and theoretical studies, a reaction mechanism is proposed to explain the difference between the present reaction and our previously reported carbon dioxide fixation.

Tetraarylphosphonium salt-catalyzed formal [3+2] cycloaddition between epoxides and trichloroacetonitrile for the synthesis of β-amino alcohol derivatives.

Efficient regioselective synthesis of β-amino alcohol derivatives, including enantioenriched ones, by a tetraarylphosphonium salt-catalyzed coupling reaction of epoxides with trichloroacetonitrile is described. Formal [3+2] cycloaddition, followed by hydrolysis, proceeded smoothly to afford -protected β-amino alcohols in good yields.

State-Transition Modeling of Human-Robot Interaction for Easy Crowdsourced Robot Control.

Robotic salespeople are often ignored by people due to their weak social presence, and thus have difficulty facilitating sales autonomously. However, for robots that are remotely controlled by humans, there is a need for experienced and trained operators. In this paper, we suggest crowdsourcing to allow general users on the internet to operate a robot remotely and facilitate customers' purchasing activities while flexibly responding to various situations through a user interface.

"That Robot Stared Back at Me!": Demonstrating Perceptual Ability Is Key to Successful Human-Robot Interactions.

Communication robots, such as robotic salespeople and guide robots, are increasingly becoming involved in various aspects of people's everyday lives. However, it is still unclear what types of robot behavior are most effective for such purposes. In this research, we focused on a robotic salesperson.