Inaugural lecture: “Move Left — No, the Other Left!”
Prof. Dr. Markus Rickert delivered his inaugural lecture at the University of Bamberg’s Faculty of Information Systems and Applied Computer Sciences on June 16, 2026. In “Move Left — No, the Other Left! Toward Natural Human-Robot Interaction Through Multimodal Intelligence,” he introduced his research on human-robot interaction.
The phrase “move left” illustrated how even a short instruction can have different interpretations. Prof. Rickert explained how such ambiguities arise during collaboration with robots and how questions or corrections can help resolve them. Gestures, gaze, and the shared task situation also play a role alongside speech. The talk examined how robot systems can incorporate this information into perception, planning, and motion control.
In relation to recent developments in AI, Prof. Rickert also discussed how learning-based models can interpret situations and generate actions. He explained how these models can be combined with task knowledge and a robot’s physical capabilities.