A Multimodal Framework for Human-Multi-Agent Interaction

arXiv cs.RO / 3/25/2026

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Key Points

  • The paper proposes a unified multimodal framework for human–multi-agent interaction, aiming to overcome limitations of existing systems in combining perception, embodied expression, and coordinated decision-making.
  • Each humanoid robot is modeled as an autonomous cognitive agent with integrated multimodal perception and LLM-driven planning that is grounded in embodiment.
  • A centralized team-level coordination mechanism manages turn-taking and agent participation to reduce overlapping speech and conflicting physical actions.
  • The framework is implemented on two humanoid robots and uses interaction policies spanning speech, gestures, gaze, and locomotion to produce coherent, coordinated behaviors.
  • The authors report representative interaction runs showing multimodal reasoning across agents and plan future work on larger user studies and more in-depth analysis of socially grounded multi-agent dynamics.

Abstract

Human-robot interaction is increasingly moving toward multi-robot, socially grounded environments. Existing systems struggle to integrate multimodal perception, embodied expression, and coordinated decision-making in a unified framework. This limits natural and scalable interaction in shared physical spaces. We address this gap by introducing a multimodal framework for human-multi-agent interaction in which each robot operates as an autonomous cognitive agent with integrated multimodal perception and Large Language Model (LLM)-driven planning grounded in embodiment. At the team level, a centralized coordination mechanism regulates turn-taking and agent participation to prevent overlapping speech and conflicting actions. Implemented on two humanoid robots, our framework enables coherent multi-agent interaction through interaction policies that combine speech, gesture, gaze, and locomotion. Representative interaction runs demonstrate coordinated multimodal reasoning across agents and grounded embodied responses. Future work will focus on larger-scale user studies and deeper exploration of socially grounded multi-agent interaction dynamics.