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Analysing Interactive Competencies 119actions and evaluate the robot’s interactive skills we developed a quantitativemethod of analysing robot-human interactions, based on a method used previouslyto analyse child-adult interactions 2 .This section describes the analysis of robot-human interactions in a comparativestudy where seven children interact separately with the mobile robot anda non-interactive toy 3 . Trials are conducted in three sections. The first sectioninvolves the child interacting with a toy truck, approximately the same size asthe robotic platform. The second section consists of both the toy truck andthe robotic platform present simultaneously whereby the robot is switched off.The third section involves the robot without the toy truck, see figure 14.1. Inhalf the trials the order of the first and last section is reversed. This structureallows us to compare interactions with the robot with those of a solely passiveobject. Timing of the sections vary, typically the first and third section are fourminutes while the second section is two minutes, depending on the enjoymentof the child.Figure 14.1. Ivan playing with the toy truck (left) and the robot (right). All names of childrenused in this chapter are pseudonyms.The trial video is segmented into one-second intervals, and each second isanalysed for the presence of various behaviours and actions by the child (after[14], with criteria altered for our particular application). Trials are analysedusing a set of fourteen criteria, which are broken into two general categories.The first category consists of the criteria eye gaze, eye contact, operate, handling,touch, approach, move away and attention. This category depends on afocus of the action or behaviour and this focus further categorises the analysisof the behaviour. The second category consists of the criteria vocalisation,speech, verbal stereotype, repetition and blank. The focus of these actions arerecorded where possible.The histogram in figure 14.2 shows a sample of the results of trials using thisanalysis method, focused on the criterium eye gaze. As can be seen, the valuesfor gaze are considerably higher when focused on the robot than the toy truckfor three of the seven children shown (Ivan, Oscar, Peter). Adam looked at the