Towards Natural Language Environment: Understanding Seamless Natural-Language-Based Human-Multi-Robot Interactions

2026-01-19

AI Summary

This study addresses the lack of a systematic design framework for enabling efficient and coordinated human–robot interaction through natural language in domestic environments populated by heterogeneous robots. Introducing the novel concept of a “Natural Language Environment” (NLE), this work constructs an initial NLE design space through a combination of literature review, virtual reality role-playing experiments, and mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative analysis. The research uncovers critical tensions among task leadership, robot autonomy, and personality expression, and distills core dimensions and guiding principles for NLE design. These findings provide both theoretical grounding and practical insights for the development of future natural language–driven human–robot collaborative systems.

Technology Category

• Intelligent Robots: Human-Robot Interaction
• Natural Language Processing: Safety and Robustness
• Humans and AI: Game Design — Virtual Humans, NPCs and Autonomous Characters

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User modeling and simulation for interactive and conversational systems
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions

Abstract

As multiple robots are expected to coexist in future households, natural language is increasingly envisioned as a primary medium for human-robot and robot-robot communication. This paper introduces the concept of a Natural Language Environment (NLE), defined as an interaction space in which humans and multiple heterogeneous robots coordinate primarily through natural language. Rather than proposing a deployable system, this work aims to explore the design space of such environments. We first synthesize prior work on language-based human-robot interaction to derive a preliminary design space for NLEs. We then conduct a role-playing study in virtual reality to investigate how people conceptualize, negotiate, and coordinate human-multi-robot interactions within this imagined environment. Based on qualitative and quantitative analysis, we refine the preliminary design space and derive design implications that highlight key tensions and opportunities around task coordination dominance, robot autonomy, and robot personality in Natural Language Environments.

Problem

• Natural Language Environment
• Human-Multi-Robot Interaction
• Natural Language Communication
• Robot Coordination
• Heterogeneous Robots

Innovation

• Natural Language Environment
• Human-Multi-Robot Interaction
• Design Space
• Robot Autonomy
• Virtual Reality Role-Playing