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2015 | Buch

Social Robots from a Human Perspective

herausgegeben von: Jane Vincent, Sakari Taipale, Bartolomeo Sapio, Giuseppe Lugano, Leopoldina Fortunati

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book presents a comprehensive overview of the human dimension of social robots by discussing both transnational features and national peculiarities. Addressing several issues that explore the human side of social robots, this book investigates what a social robot is and how we might come to think about social robots in the different areas of everyday life. Organized around three sections that deal with Perceptions and Attitudes to Social Robots, Human Interaction with Social Robots, and Social Robots in Everyday Life, it explores the idea that even if the challenges of robot technologies can be overcome from a technological perspective, the question remains as to what kind of machine we want to have and use in our daily lives.

Lessons learned from previous widely adopted technologies, such as smartphones, indicate that robot technologies could potentially be absorbed into the everyday lives of humans in such a way that it is the human that determines the human-machine interaction. In a similar way to how today’s information and communication technologies were initially designed for professional/industrial use, but were soon commercialized for the mass market and then personalized by humans in the course of daily practice, the use of social robots is now facing the same revolution of ‘domestication.’ In the context of this transformation, which involves the profound embedding of robots in everyday life, the ‘human’ aspect of social robots will play a major part. This book sheds new light on this highly topical issue, one of the central subjects that will be taught and studied at universities worldwide and that will be discussed widely, publicly and repeatedly in the near future.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction: Situating the Human in Social Robots

Abstract

Traditionally the social has been considered as a characteristic of human beings, not of inanimate machines. At the same time, each technological device can be considered social born out of a complex process of invention, implementation, distribution and domestication by users (Hirsch and Silverstone 2004; Lasen 2013). Since recent technical developments have made possible rather detailed technical mimicking of human beings and their social features, and incorporating them in silicon chips, there is a pronounced need to understand to what extent the humanness can be implanted in social robots. This is also an occasion to think over and discuss what the human is when considered in this context of social robots. With this book we tackle what can be considered as a social robot, which in fact is a paradoxical term, from a social, cultural and humanistic perspective.

Sakari Taipale, Jane Vincent, Bartolomeo Sapio, Giuseppe Lugano, Leopoldina Fortunati

Perceptions and Attitudes to Social Robots

Frontmatter

Chapter 2. Robot Shift from Industrial Production to Social Reproduction

Abstract

This chapter analyses people’s attitudes towards the use of robots in the different domains of life and, specifically, in the domain of social reproduction. The analysis is based on Eurobarometer 382 “Public Attitudes towards Robots” data (N = 26,751), which was carried out among EU citizens aged 15 and over in 27 member states in 2012. The results of the study show that on average European perceptions of robots are positive and permissive. The life domains in which robots have already been used for a long time (e.g. space exploration, manufacturing, military and security business, search and rescue work) turn out to be the most popular areas for the further penetration of robots. The least preferred life domains are those, which address the core functions of social reproduction (e.g. care of children, elderly people and the disabled, education, leisure). With a series of ordinal logistic regression analyses, we outline the socio-demographic factors that are associated with the willingness to have more robots in the various fields of social production. Pensioner’s supportive attitude towards the use of robots in health care and educational activities is highlighted.

Sakari Taipale, Federico de Luca, Mauro Sarrica, Leopoldina Fortunati

Chapter 3. In the Company of Robots: Views of Acceptability of Robots in Social Settings

Abstract

We draw on computer mediated communication (CMC) theories to argue that users’ earlier experiences with online social environments tend to attribute human-like characteristics to robots. Specifically, when users engage in socially-charged electronic environments to interact and communicate electronically with others, they find ways to overcome the relative lack of cues to adapt to the medium. We explore whether users who have more experience using information and communication technologies (ICT), are more likely to recognize humanlike cues in robots. The findings show that avatar engagement and sense of online community have a strong effect on robots acceptance and recognition of human-like characteristics; this is even after accounting for predictors expected to affect attitudes toward robots such as religion, gender, age and robots’ appearance. The chapter ends by exploring the implications of this research for greater social acceptability of robots in various human domains.

James E. Katz, Daniel Halpern, Elizabeth Thomas Crocker

Chapter 4. Perception, Acceptance, and the Social Construction of Robots—Exploratory Studies

Abstract

In order to investigate social robots’ images and approval and/or rejection, we conducted two pre-studies and two studies combining qualitative and quantitative methods. In the first pre-study, we attempted to capture the images of robots in our minds as indicators of their social representation. The second pre-study tried to contrast the acceptance of robots in general among non-experienced users with their acceptance of specific robotic instances. In the first study, we aimed to quantitatively shed light on the relationship between the acceptance of robots. The users’ demographics and their earlier robotic experience on one hand, and the robots’ functionalities, interactional capacities and physical appearance on the other. Finally, in the last study, we aimed to track the shift from a dyadic to a triadic relationship with a robot by observing the interaction between pairs of participants and a robot in an experimental setting. Our four studies provide support for previous academic findings, but also question others opening up the floor for novel research horizons.

Joachim R. Höflich, Afifa El Bayed

Human Interaction with Social Robots

Frontmatter

Chapter 5. Social Robotics in Health-Care Service: The Case of Rehabilitation Programmes in Hong Kong

Abstract

This chapter deals with the use of assistive technologies in rehabilitation programmes, particularly the physically disabled in Hong Kong. The chapter argues that if the assistive technologies can only restore the biological and physical functioning of the disabled, they remain a robot only. When these technologies also manage to improve the social life of the disabled, they can turn into social robots. Following this line of thought, the chapter argues that rehabilitation programmes facilitating the use of assistive technologies in Hong Kong have difficulties in transforming assistive technologies into social robots. The chapter is concluded by further elaborating these difficulties at both the micro- and macro-level.

Pui-lam Law

Chapter 6. Intuitive Interaction Between Humans and Robots in Work Functions at Industrial Environments: The Role of Social Robotics

Abstract

The social dimension of worker–robot interaction in industry is becoming a decisive aspect of robotics development. Many problems and difficulties of robotics research are not only related to technical issues but are framed by social aspects. Human–robot interaction (HRI) as a specific research field of robotics tackles this issue of intuition. One of the aims is to identify relevant research questions about the possibility of the development of safer robot systems in closer human–machine intuitive interaction systems at the manufacturing shop floor level. This chapter will contribute to understanding the cognitive and perceptual workload for robot operators in complex working systems. The importance of robotics in work life is not only to decrease the physical strains in manufacturing, but also it can increase the need for situation awareness and risk assessment which implies higher perceptual workload and psychological strains.

Antonio B. Moniz

Chapter 7. Minimizing the Human? Functional Reductions of Complexity in Social Robotics and Their Cybernetic Heritage

Abstract

Recently designers at the Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratory (ATR, Kyoto) decided to shift their focus away from highly-lifelike androids to very minimalistic appearances like that of the Telenoid, Elfoid and Hugvie models. Instead of trying to simulate the appearance and behavior of actual human beings, the decision was to sidestep the Uncanny Valley problem by restricting the robots to a functional minimum in human likeness. This chapter investigates different approaches to complexity reduction in social robotics, among them experiments that compared human mime artists (theatrical robots) with actual robots in the interaction with autistic children and the implementation of cartoon techniques to model emotions in the generation of projected facial expressions. The notion of complexity reduction is discussed with respect to its merits (especially from a systems theoretical framework) and to its drawbacks. Beyond ethical considerations, the chapter argues that the research on social robotics is linked with the cybernetic hypothesis (as formulated by Tiqqun), a contemporary mode of governance and regulation that privileges certain kinds of subjectification via communication and discourages others.

Timo Kaerlein

Chapter 8. Open Sourcing Social Robotics: Humanoid Artifacts from the Viewpoint of Designers

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to define a remit of interest for design and designers in the field of products and services employing human face as an interface with users. From the point of view of design culture, humanoid artifacts, are at the intersection of product design, visual communication, and interaction design. The release of open hardware platforms, such as Arduino Robot, as well as the diffusion of fabrication laboratories (fablabs) and open design practices are the early manifestations of a wider interest toward social robotics accompanied by the possibility of building working prototypes of humanoid artifacts. The use of human face as interface in human–computer interaction adds analogic content to interaction processes in an unmediated and unobtrusive way, transferring human–computer interaction to the field of interpersonal communication. Nevertheless, the field of anthropomorphic artifacts is generally neglected by designers and rather controlled by engineers and experimental psychologists. Starting from a definition and taxonomy of humanoid artifacts, the aim of this chapter is to describe the paradigm of human–computer interaction through case studies of humanoid artifacts and to define criteria for the evaluation of humanoid artifacts from the perspective of design practice.

Davide Fornari, Serena Cangiano

Social Robots in Everyday Life

Frontmatter

Chapter 9. The Mobile Phone: An Emotionalised Social Robot

Abstract

This chapter builds on the notion that humans, who have appropriated mobile phones and incorporated them into their everyday lives since the 1980s have, in so doing, created their own personal social robot. It asserts that the constant always on connectivity afforded by this device is enabling a communicable stream of consciousness and emotions that are intertwined between the mobile phone and their emotional self. This, in turn has created a dependence and attachment to the device, to the relationships it mediates and more, such that it is so fully integrated into people’s day-to-day living they cannot imagine how to conduct everyday life without it. The outcome of this human and machine interaction, and the electronic emotions it imbues, is a device that has become an emotionalised social robot that is exclusive to its user.

Jane Vincent

Chapter 10. The Technologicalization of Education in China: A Case Study of the Home–School Communication System

Abstract

This article regards the social implications of human–robot interaction in education in the specific sociocultural context of China. In particular the Home–School Communication System is taken as a case study. The first part of the article introduces how the standardized and automatized system helps student monitoring and school communication. The opinions of the different types of users involved (teachers, parents, and students) are then examined so as to look at the social impact of the system for care services and for communication services between teachers and parents. Through cross-cultural aspects concerning comparisons of education in Chinese and in Western societies, the article suggests that such kind of mediated communication may gradually change the role of teachers and parents in the Chinese context.

Chung-tai Cheng

Chapter 11. Fashion Tech and Robotics

Abstract

Many of the relatively recent experiments and realisations in the field of “fashion tech”—a combination of fashion design with engineering, science and interaction/user experience design—try to shape some sort of artificially intelligent systems around the human body, which in many cases move, breath and react to the environment around them. Although far from the social aim of health biorobotics, such researches have many elements in common with the latest advancements in the area of robotics related to the body, where the focus is often to enhance the wearability of the body-related devices, quite often through the employment of “smart textiles.” The aim of this chapter is therefore to describe and analyse these parallel and partially intersecting developments, by presenting a review of the main projects recently realised by artists and designers who have collaborated with scientists and engineers towards the creation of “robotic dresses.”

Elda Danese

Chapter 12. Conclusions

Abstract

Although the topic of social robots has enjoyed great success in scholarly literature since 2000, this book contributes new knowledge to the debate that has been generated from diverse sources. It includes authors who come from many different countries delivering robust, quantitative studies on the attitudes and perceptions towards robots in Europe and North America together with a series of more qualitative research projects and experiments from Europe and Asia. Furthermore, it includes a good mix of disciplines: from communication to social policy, from sociology to industrial design, from philosophy to social psychology. Collaborating together all these disciplines have delivered integrated knowledge and a variety of studies regarding social robots.

Jane Vincent, Sakari Taipale, Bartolomeo Sapio, Giuseppe Lugano, Leopoldina Fortunati

Titel: Social Robots from a Human Perspective
herausgegeben von: Jane Vincent
Sakari Taipale
Bartolomeo Sapio
Giuseppe Lugano
Leopoldina Fortunati
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-15672-9
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15671-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15672-9