Robot magic show as testbed for humanoid robot interaction

New media art uses a variety of media to express the artists’ thoughts and ideas. Artists use new media to express their views, to comment on the world, or to elicit a response from the viewer. The artist also can convey the meaning of their work through interaction with the audience. But, it may be difficult to express ones ideas through interaction, if viewers are unable to follow intent of the artist. In this paper, we propose a method of interaction analysis for interactive performance art that provides easy access to the intent of the artwork. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our analysis in the context of robot magic shows. Magic shows are a prime example of the art of deception through interaction. Magicians have been astonishing crowds for centuries and the magician's patter is an important aspect of a magic show. The intent of the magician is to guide audience to believe that something extraordinary has happened. Through seemingly innocuous speech and gestures, the magician guides the audience to what the magician wants the audience to think and believe.