# Considerations for Developing Robot-Assisted Crisis De-Escalation Practices
## 1 Introduction  
As the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics technology continues to accelerate, mobile robots are increasingly entering the social sphere and taking on more sophisticated roles. For example, robots have been designed to provide education (e.g., [1]), health and home care (e.g., [2]), autism therapy (e.g., [3]), and security services [4]. Regarding the latter task, a number of robots have been developed to assist in security and policing tasks. The Knightscope security robot is a representative example. This robot currently patrols parking lots and structures, shopping malls, hospitals, airports, and corporate campuses across the United States, providing real-time information and surveillance for security teams [5].  
There are many potential applications for a security robot. The device could act as a mobile sensor providing information to remote human staff or it could act as a deterrent to crime just by its presence in a particular environment. An expected task in the security setting is one in which the robot interacts with members of the community. This interaction might include relatively simple tasks such as having the robot provide information or directions. Robots could also be expected to engage in complex tasks, such as interacting with an agitated, confrontational, or potentially aggressive individual with the goal of defusing the situation. This process is known as de-escalation.  
If robots can engage in effective crisis de-escalation, they could potentially help defuse situations when human personnel are not readily available, or act as part of an on-site team to help shift an agitated individual towards a state of greater calm and control. When human first responders are faced with the task of de-escalating an agitated person, thereis potential for physical harm to both the first responder and the community member [6]. Robots would seem to be an attractive enhancement to existing de-escalation strategies as the robot could at least be used to reduce the risk to the responder. Furthermore, in such an encounter, just as with a human responder, a robot could take steps to secure the environment (e.g., lock doors, remove objects which could be used as weapons) and call for human assistance. Of course, it is not possible to diffuse or de-escalate every possible interaction scenario. The more realistic goal is to develop and implement strategies to diffuse or de-escalate situations as much as possible. The question remains: Can a robot effectively employ crisis de-escalation strategies in such interactions, and if so, when and how should robots be used in crisis de-escalation?  
This paper considers the task of utilizing mobile robots in de-escalation tasks. Section 2 reviews the literature on de-escalation with individuals in crisis. Section 3 summarizes the basic requirement for social robots involved in de-escalation and presents a working model for the process of, and tasks involved in, crisis de-escalation. Section 4 focuses on integrating de-escalation practices into human-robot interactions, including considerations for assessing the individual in crisis and the surrounding environment, planning and orchestrating a response, and communication strategies and principles that support de-escalation. Section 5 discusses data-driven approaches to training robots in de-escalation, and Section 6 focuses on the next steps in moving the field forward.