Vocal Interactivity in-and-between

Humans, Animals and Robots

Almost all animals exploit vocal signals for a range of ecologically-motivated purposes: from detecting predators/prey and marking territory, to expressing emotions, establishing social relations and sharing information. Whether it is a bird raising an alarm, a whale calling to potential partners, a dog responding to human commands, a parent reading a story with a child, or a businessperson accessing stock prices using Siri on an iPhone, vocalisation provides a valuable communications channel through which behaviour may be coordinated and controlled, and information may be distributed and acquired. Indeed, the ubiquity of vocal interaction has led to research across an extremely diverse array of fields, from assessing animal welfare, to understanding the precursors of human language, to developing voice-based human-machine interaction.

This website is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of vocal interactivity in-and-between humans, animal and robots.

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Announcements

25-26 August 2017: VIHAR-2017 Workshop (University of Skovde, Sweden)

The VIHAR-2017 two-day workshop aims to bring together researchers studying vocalisation and speech-based interaction in-and-between humans, animals and robots from a variety of different fields. VIHAR-17 will provide an opportunity to share and discuss theoretical insights, best practices, tools and methodologies, and to identify common principles underpinning vocal behaviour in a multi-disciplinary environment. It thus offers the potential to accelerate progress in all these areas, as well as establish new interdisciplinary collaborations.

VIHAR-2017 is scheduled to take place immediately following INTERSPEECH-2017 in Stockholm and it is supported by the International Speech Communication Association (ISCA). We are aiming to keep the registration fee as low as possible.

We invite original submissions of five-page INTERSPEECH-style papers or two-page extended abstracts that relate to innovative topics in any area of vocal interaction in-and-between humans, animals and robots. Each submission will be reviewed by at least two members of the Scientific Review Committee. Accepted submissions will be published in the (indexed) VIHAR-2017 Proceedings. Details of the electronic submission procedure will appear on the VIHAR-2017 website in the New Year.

Key Dates:

2 June 2017 Deadline for paper/abstract submissions

30 June 2017 Notification of acceptance

28 July 2017 Final versions for inclusion in proceedings

25-26 August 2017 Workshop

To check-out the latest information about VIHAR-2017, please visit the workshop website.

30 October – 4 November 2016: Dagstuhl Seminar

Twenty-one invited researchers from eight different countries attended Dagstuhl Seminar 16442 on Vocal Interactivity in-and-between Humans, Animals and Robots (VIHAR). The Seminar was organised by Roger K. Moore (University of Sheffield, GB), Serge Thill (University of Skovde, SE), Clementine Vignal (Universite Jean Monnet – Saint-Etienne, FR) and Ricard Marxer (University of Sheffield, GB).

25 October 2016: Review Article

Moore, R. K., Marxer, R., & Thill, S. (2016). Vocal interactivity in-and-between humans, animals and robots. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 3(61).