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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 privilege certain kinds of subjectification via communication and discourages others.
... There lingers the technological dream of 'the Universal Automaton . . . the creation of the perfect citizen,' which could be augmented with an emphasis on 'the amount of diversity it is capable of handling' as a benchmark in the creation of truly social robots [57] (p. 86). ...
... The mechanistic worldview enables a functional reduction of the complexity of social interaction to algorithms enacted by a machine; in effect, as [57] put it, minimizing the 'human' in HRI. However, this squeezes out of the minimal 'human' the very quality that makes us human-the aspect of selfhood that Charles Taylor regarded as 'perennial in human life'; namely, the fact that 'a human being exists inescapably in a space of ethical questions; she cannot avoid assessing herself in relation to some standards' [60] (p. ...
Socially interactive robots in a variety of forms and function are quickly becoming part of everyday life and bring with them a host of applied ethical issues. This paper concerns meta-ethical implications at the interface among robotics, ethics, psychology, and the social sciences. While guidelines for the ethical design and use of robots are necessary and urgent, meeting this exigency opens up the issue of whose values and vision of the ideal society inform public policies. The paper is organized as a sequence of questions: Can robots be agents of cultural transmission? Is a cultural shift an issue for roboethics? Should roboethics be an instrument of (political) social engineering? How could biases of the technological imagination be avoided? Does technological determinism compromise the possibility of moral action? The answers to these questions are not straightforwardly affirmative or negative, but their contemplation leads to heeding C. Wright Mills’ metaphor of the cheerful robot.
... Our use of the term is meant to pair the concept of similarity (to one's own anatomy; the "homologue") to anatomical replacement (the prosthesis). We note the concept of homology is occasionally referred to in the literature related to the uncanny valley (Chaminade, 2006;Tondu, 2012;Kaerlein, 2015), but is used in a way that connotes similarity to human anthropomorphism, and not per se any one person's anatomy (or one's own anatomy). In many settings, the prosthetic homologue cannot directly be assessed: a limb-deficient individual has no anatomy from which to draw the comparison; the homologue in this case would be an abstract construct, that can only be approached conceptually, but not tested. ...
Embodiment is the process by which patients with limb loss come to accept their peripheral device as a natural extension of self. However, there is little guidance as to how exacting the prosthesis must be in order for embodiment to take place: is it necessary for the prosthetic hand to look just like the absent hand? Here, we describe a protocol for testing whether an individual would select a hand that looks like their own from among a selection of five hands, and whether the hand selection (regardless of homology) is consistent across multiple exposures to the same (but reordered) set of candidate hands. Pilot results using healthy volunteers reveals that hand selection is only modestly consistent, and that selection of the prosthetic homologue is atypical (61 of 192 total exposures). Our protocol can be executed in minutes, and makes use of readily available equipment and softwares. We present both a face-to-face and a virtual protocol, for maximum flexibility of implementation.
... However, since the computational resources were stored in the robot, the service modularity and the robot capabilities were limited. In addition, recent work (Kaerlein 2015) and experimentation results ) have provided guidelines for the design of robotic services concerning the simplification of the robots and the user interface to avoid misunderstanding and ambiguities. ...
Information and Communication Technology and personal robots could play a fundamental role in efficiently managing chronic diseases and avoiding improper medications. They could support senior citizens with reminders, thus promoting their independent living and quality of life, especially in the presence of several chronic diseases (multimorbidity). In this context, this article proposes a service model for personalised medical support that is able to provide adequate healthcare service by means of a hybrid robot-cloud approach. This service was quantitatively and qualitatively tested to assess the technical feasibility and user acceptability level of the service. The service was tested with 23 older people (65–86 years) in the DomoCasa Lab (Italy). This study demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed hybrid cloud solution and the usability and acceptability were positively evaluated thus confirming the ability to utilise these innovative technologies for active and healthy ageing.
Profit-oriented service sectors such as tourism, hospitality, and entertainment are increasingly looking at how professional service robots can be integrated into the workplace to perform socio-cognitive tasks that were previously reserved for humans. This is a work in which social and labor sciences recognize the principle role of emotions. However, the models and narratives of emotions that drive research, design, and deployment of service robots in human–robot interaction differ considerably from how emotions are framed in the sociology of labor and feminist studies of service work. In this paper, we explore these tensions through the concepts of affective and emotional labor, and outline key insights these concepts offer for the design and evaluation of professional service robots. Taken together, an emphasis on interactionist approaches to emotions and on the demands of affective labor, leads us to argue that service employees are under-represented in existing studies in human–robot interaction. To address this, we outline how participatory design and value-sensitive design approaches can be applied as complimentary methodological frameworks that include service employees as vital stakeholders.
Over the past two decades, ethical challenges related to robotics technologies have gained increasing interest among different research and non-academic communities, in particular through the field of roboethics. While the reasons to address roboethics are clear, why not to engage with ethics needs to be better understood. This paper focuses on a limited or lacking engagement with ethics that takes place within some parts of the robotics community and its implications for the conceptualisation of the human being. The underlying assumption is that the term ‘ethical’ essentially means ‘human’. Thus, this paper discusses a working hypothesis according to which by avoiding to engage with roboethics, roboticists contribute to the tacit dehumanisation process emerging in and outside of robotics. An alternative approach includes ‘lived ethics’ which involves not only incorporating formal ethical approaches into the roboticists’ work but also ‘being’ ethical and actually engaging with ethical reflection and practice.
Taking ideas of the theatrical encounter in the Japanese context into situations of close physical proximity, this chapter critically examines the assumptions that have guided the development of robots designed to interact with the elderly. The use of the ‘social’ robot for aged care is highly calculated, designed so that users will adapt to and align themselves with the robots in the context of games and prompted conversations that facilitate the users’ responses. It also raises ethical issues. Researchers are aware that the users may not be fully aware, depending on their health status, of the nature of the solicitous object. The final part of this chapter examines performative parallels between manga/anime that include narratives of robots used in aged care and related occurrences in real situations. These correlations suggest a deep social entanglement with robots in Japan, even in the conceptualising of aged care.
This paper provides a comprehensive introduction to the design of the minimally expressive robot KASPAR, which is particularly suitable for human–robot interaction studies. A low-cost design with off-the-shelf components has been used in a novel design inspired from a multi-disciplinary viewpoint, including comics design and Japanese Noh theatre. The design rationale of the robot and its technical features are described in detail. Three research studies will be presented that have been using KASPAR extensively. Firstly, we present its application in robot-assisted play and therapy for children with autism. Secondly, we illustrate its use in human–robot interaction studies investigating the role of interaction kinesics and gestures. Lastly, we describe a study in the field of developmental robotics into computational architectures based on interaction histories for robot ontogeny. The three areas differ in the way as to how the robot is being operated and its role in social interaction scenarios. Each will be introduced briefly and examples of the results will be presented. Reflections on the specific design features of KASPAR that were important in these studies and lessons learnt from these studies concerning the design of humanoid robots for social interaction will also be discussed. An assessment of the robot in terms of utility of the design for human–robot interaction experiments concludes the paper.
Algorithms (particularly those embedded in search engines, social media platforms, recommendation systems, and information databases) play an increasingly important role in selecting what information is considered most relevant to us, a crucial feature of our participation in public life. As we have embraced computational tools as our primary media of expression, we are subjecting human discourse and knowledge to the procedural logics that undergird computation. What we need is an interrogation of algorithms as a key feature of our information ecosystem, and of the cultural forms emerging in their shadows, with a close attention to where and in what ways the introduction of algorithms into human knowledge practices may have political ramifications. This essay is a conceptual map to do just that. It proposes a sociological analysis that does not conceive of algorithms as abstract, technical achievements, but suggests how to unpack the warm human and institutional choices that lie behind them, to see how algorithms are called into being by, enlisted as part of, and negotiated around collective efforts to know and be known.
Studiert die Kybernetik!« Mit diesem Appell hob 1977 eine Einführung in die Kyber-netik für junge Leser an. 1 Es sollte einer der letzten emphatischen Aufrufe bleiben, denn Mitte der 70er Jahre war, nach gut 25 Jahren, die erste Begeisterungswelle der Kybernetik zum Erliegen gekommen. Was immer die unterschiedlichen Gründe gewesen sein mögen (politische Mißliebigkeit oder ausbleibende Institutionalisierung, Selbstüberschätzung oder schlichte Ausdifferenzierung): Die Zeit, in der Kybernetik noch mit »K« geschrieben wurde, war zu Ende gegangen. 2 Mit »C« geschrieben kehrte sie in den 80er und frühen 90er Jahren in der allfälligen Rede von Cyborgs und Cyberpunk, Cyberspace oder Cyberculture zurück – nicht zuletzt in der Populärkul-tur, deren Sache sie teilweise schon immer war. Heute erscheint der Cyber-Hype jener Zeit wie ein modisches Kleidungsstück von gestern, und die Schamschwelle, es zu tragen, liegt allemal niedrig. Im Kontrast zu den Wiedergängern (oder der Farce) des ›Cyber« gewinnt jedoch zugleich die frühe Zeit der Kybernetik wieder an Glanz und Größe. Nach 50 Jahren wird nicht nur die Radikalität einer epistemischen Erschütterung in ihren historischen Bedingungen prägnanter, sondern ist auch jene Schwelle erreicht, an der sich üblicherweise der Sprung vom ›kommunikativen‹ ins ›kollektive‹ Gedächtnis ereignet. Kein Wunder also, daß die Erinnerung der Kyberne-tik derzeit Konjunktur hat. Es ist an der Zeit, ihre Archive zu rekonstruieren und ihre Geschichte(n) zu schreiben, und man wird sich fragen müssen, wie sie zu schreiben sein könnten. * Gleichwohl die historischen Stränge der Kybernetik unterschiedlich tief in die Ge-schichte zurückreichen, 3 sind die hier vorliegenden ›Macy-Konferenzen‹ ihr modernes Gründungsdokument. Zwischen 1946 und 1948 noch unter dem umständlichen Titel Circular Causal, and Feedback Mechanisms in Biological and Social Systems abgehalten, heißen sie ab 1949 nur noch programmatisch Cybernetics . Gefördert von der eher auf medizinische Fragestellungen ausgerichteten Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation , betreut von Frank Fremont-Smith (der nicht umsonst den Spitznamen ›Mr. Interdisciplinary Con-ference‹ trug) und wissenschaftlich beraten und moderiert von Warren S. McCulloch verlängerten sie die während des Zweiten Weltkriegs gesetzten Standards interdiszipli-närer Forschergruppen in die beginnende Epoche des Kalten Krieges. So sehr man am Erfolg dieses Dialogs im Detail zweifeln mag, dessen Möglichkeiten und Grenzen – etwa in der Frage der Gruppenkommunikation, im Verhältnis zwischen europäischen und amerikanischen Wissenschaftstraditionen oder anhand der To Whom It May Con-cern -Messages 4 – auf den Konferenzen selbst immer wieder problematisiert werden, so 1 Viktor Pekelis, Kleine Enzyklopädie von der großen Kybernetik , Berlin (Ost) 1977, S. 10 (russische Erstaus-gabe 1973). 2 Die folgenden Ausführungen beziehen sich – dem Erscheinungsort dieser Ausgabe angemessen – stark auf die deutschsprachige Rezeption. Vgl. zur Periodisierung auch N. Katherine Hayles, How We Became Posthuman. Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics , Chicago/London 1999, S. 15ff. und S. 50-83. W.A. Rosenblith berichtete dem erstaunten Auditorium des »Brennpunkt Kybernetik« an der TU Berlin schon 1965, daß sich in den USA niemand mehr »Cyberneticist« nennen möge, seit zu Viele auf den »cybernetic bandwagon« aufgesprungen seien (vgl. Hans Lenk, Philosophie im technologischen Zeit-alter , Stuttgart 1971, S. 72). 3 Vgl. den Beitrag von Joseph Vogl in diesem Band. 4 Vgl. den Beitrag von Erhard Schüttpelz in diesem Band.
This article discusses Niklas Luhmann's understanding of complexity, its role in theory, and the different ways for its use. It starts from a paradigmatic change that took place in the field of Science in general after the rupture of the Newtonian model. In the 20th century, the paradigm of order, symmetry, regularity, and regulation of the intellect over things enters a crisis. After new formulation in Physics, Chemistry, etc, a new universe emerges over the bases radically opposed to those of modern Science. There is rehabilitation of chaos, process irreversibility, indeterminism, the observer, and complexity. That new conceptual environment served as the substrate for Niklas Luhmann's theoretical reflection. Through the Theory of the Social systems, the author proposes the reduction of the world's complexity. The role of social systems is to reduce complexity by its difference regarding the surroundings. By reducing complexity, on the other hand, he also builds his own complexity. Luhmann sees complexity when it is no longer possible that each element relates in any moment to all others. Complexity forces selection, which means contingency and risk. Luhmann further discusses the concept of complexity by introducing the figure of the observer and the distinction of complexity as the unity of a multiplicity. He also deals with the limit of relationship connections, the time factor, self-reference of the operations, and representation of complexity as meaning. Finally, the article deals with complexity in the system of science, the way it reduced internal and external complexity according to its own operative basis.
In this literature review we explain anthropomorphism and its role in the design of socially interactive robots and human-robot interaction. We illustrate the social phenomenon of anthropomorphism which describes people's tendency to attribute lifelike qualities to objects and other non lifelike artifacts. We present theoretical backgrounds from social sciences, and integrate related work from robotics research, including results from experiments with social robots. We present different approaches for anthropomorphic and humanlike form in a robot's design related to its physical shape, its behavior, and its interaction with humans. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of anthropomorphism in robotics, collects and reports relevant references, and gives an outlook on anthropomorphic human-robot interaction.
Social robotics is an emerging field, with many applications envisioned for people with disabilities. This project examined the so far invisible views of disability service organization workers towards social robotics. Because community service workers' views shape community-based rehabilitation (an area of health interventions that focuses on social determinants), it is important to examine their views towards social robotics applications which are largely developed under a clinical/medical view of disability. We administered a survey to employees of a Saskatchewan disability service organization. Out of 44 respondents, 80 % were female, most aged 21-65 years. Robotics applications perceived to be important included domestic robots, and rehabilitation robots. Least important applications included eldercare robots, companion robots, and pet robots. Most participants felt that robots cannot replace human touch, human interaction, or emotional companionship, and that they cannot/should not replace human workers in the disability setting. Many expressed concerns about safety, normality for disabled people, and artificial interactions. Respondents also had views on whether a social robot can be a bully or could be bullied. We submit that the perspectives our respondents exhibited might be useful to consider in the development of social robots for applications around disability in order to ensure acceptable and relevant products.
The evolution of human-robot interaction (HRI) is now expanding its wings to aid children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in areas of socialization, communication and playful behavior through robot-based intervention. Herein we present our holistic, long-standing goal to contribute to the lives of children with ASD; who suffer a lifelong developmental disability. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on a case study in our pilot experiment where a child with ASD is exposed to the humanoid robot NAO in order to gauge his initial response and behavior in the presence of a robot. NAO robot is the chosen robotic agent as it is a commercially available humanoid with simpler in appearance compared to real humans, thus appears more approachable to children with ASD. The pilot procedures involve the robot executing basic, simple components of interaction through a series of 5 different modules. In this study, the principal results show that the basic HRI carried out by the robot is able to suppress the child's autistic behavior during the child-robot interaction. Also, more eye contact is observed between the child and robot compared to the child with his teacher during regular class session. Relating this to the child's IQ which falls in the moderate category, it is suggested that children with ASD in the same IQ group will be receptive to robot-based intervention even in the first interaction session. Hence, it can be concluded that the humanoid robot NAO has potential to serve as a platform to support and initiate interaction in children with ASD.
This article studies the impact of a robot's appearance on interactions involv-ing four children with autism. This work is part of the Aurora project with the overall aim to support interaction skills in children with autism, using robots as 'interactive toys' that can encourage and mediate interactions. We follow an approach commonly adopted in assistive robotics and work with a small group of children with autism. This article investigates which robot appearances are suitable to encourage interactions between a robot and children with autism. The children's levels of interaction with and response to different appearances of two types of robots are compared: a small humanoid doll, and a life-sized 'Theatrical Robot' (a mime artist behaving like a robot). The small humanoid robot appeared either as a human-like 'pretty doll' or as a 'robot' with plain features. The Theatrical Robot was presented either as an ordinary human, or with plain clothing and a featureless, masked face. The results of these trials clearly indicate the children's preference in their initial response for interaction with a plain, featureless robot over the interaction with a human-like robot. In the case of the life-size Theatrical Robot, the response of children towards the plain/robotic robot was notably more social and pro-active. Implications of these results for our work on using robots as assistive technology for children with autism and their possible use in autism research are discussed.
The Uncanny Valley hypothesis has been widely used in the areas of computer graphics and human-robot interaction to motivate research and to explain the negative impressions that participants report after exposure to highly realistic characters or robots. Despite its frequent use, empirical proof for the hypothesis remains scarce. This study empirically tested two predictions of the hypothesis: a) highly realistic robots are liked less than real humans and b) the highly realistic robot's movement decreases its likeability. The results do not support these hypotheses and hence expose a considerable weakness in the Uncanny Valley hypothesis. Anthropomorphism and likeability may be multi-dimensional constructs that cannot be projected into a two-dimensional space. We speculate that the hypothesis' popularity may stem from the explanatory escape route it offers to the developers of characters and robots. In any case, the Uncanny Valley hypothesis should no longer be used to hold back the development of highly realistic androids.
This paper discusses the issues pertinent to the development of a meaningful social interaction between robots and people through employing degrees of anthropomorphism in a robot’s physical design and behaviour. As robots enter our social space, we will inherently project/impose our interpretation on their actions similar to the techniques we employ in rationalising, for example, a pet’s behaviour. This propensity to anthropomorphise is not seen as a hindrance to social robot development, but rather a useful mechanism that requires judicious examination and employment in social robot research.
The rapidly ageing population is placing increasing strain on healthcare services. Robots have been proposed as a way to assist
people to stay healthy and safe in their own homes. However, despite the need for such assistive devices and the success of
some healthcare robots, other robots have had a poor response. This article reviews the literature about human responses to
healthcare robots and summarises the variables that have been found to influence responses. It may be possible to increase
acceptance of healthcare robots by properly assessing the needs of the human user and then matching the robot’s role, appearance
and behaviour to these needs. Because robots have limitations in their abilities, another way to increase acceptance may be
to modify the expectations of users to better match robots’ abilities. More research needs to investigate potential users’
needs and expectations in specific situations and whether interventions to increase the match between robot and human can
increase acceptance.
In several studies over 5 years, our interdisciplinary research team introduced My Real Babies, Aibos and Paros into two nursing homes and into the school and home life of children.† By referring to these sociable robots as relational artifacts, we draw on the psychoanalytic tradition, which emphasizes the human meaning of the person–artifact connection. We report on the relationships children and seniors formed with the robots, focusing on: (1) how they talk about the robots in relation to themselves and others; and (2) how their ideas about the robots and interactions with them reflect other feelings. In doing so, we distinguish ‘robot as Rorschach’, which refers to how relationships with robots express other things about a person's life, and ‘robot as evocative object’, which refers to how robots provoke reflection on such issues as what is aliveness, what is special about being a person, and what is the role of thought and feeling in defining human uniqueness. In case studies we report on individual differences among robot users and sociological factors that affect their engagement. The results may inform the design of future relational artifacts, especially as robots find medical and therapeutic vocations. This article includes words that are, or are asserted to be, proprietary terms or trade marks. Their inclusion does not imply that they have acquired for legal purposes a non-proprietary or general significance, nor is any other judgment implied concerning their legal status.
Even though Niklas Luhmann himself never declared his own approach as a cybernetic one, and even if the relationship between systems theory and cybernetics is still not clearly defined in every way, it seems to be legitimate to classify Luhmann's Theory of Social Systems into the field of cybernetics approaches, more precisely as a socio-cybernetic one. Beside the concept of autopoiesis by Maturana and Varela there are various systems thinkers and cyberneticists like Wiener, Ashby, Shannon, Bateson, von Foerster who influenced Luhmanns work deeply. Certainly he fits the cybernetic principles into his theory rather idiosyncratically and partly after some significant revisions, but one can argue that Luhmann's Theorie of Social Systems is the conclusion of a confrontation of the mayor issues of cybernetic discourse with the European philosophical tradition. In the following article it is discussed the question in what extent we can include Luhmann's work into the cybernetic tradition. Which are the significant connection-points between cybernetics and Luhmann's work? What is the relevance of this connection for Luhmanns own theoretical development? Which are the congruences and which are the differences? To what extent is Luhmann's Theory of Social Systems even though his critical distance - integrable into the spectrum of the approaches of ``New Cybernetic'' (as Geyer & van der Zouwen formulated in 1986)? After a short discussion on what is characterizing a theory as a cybernetic one, the article reconstructs Luhmann's critical debate on the most important theoretical problems of cybernetics and finally it will sketch out Luhmanns answer to this debate, which he gives in his own concepts. For Luhmann the fascination of cybernetics consists in explaining the problem of constancy and invariance of systems in a highly complex and dynamical world by observing communication processes. This makes cybernetics to a definitive non-ontological approach and brings it near to the functionalistic sociology.
We propose a method for generating facial expressions emphasized with cartoon techniques using a cellular-phone-type teleoperated android with a mobile projector. Elfoid is designed to transmit the speaker’s presence to their communication partner using a camera and microphone, and has a soft exterior that provides the look and feel of human skin. To transmit the speaker’s presence, Elfoid sends not only the voice of the speaker but also emotional information captured by the camera and microphone. Elfoid cannot, however, display facial expressions because of its compactness and a lack of sufficiently small actuator motors. In this research, facial expressions are generated using Elfoid’s head-mounted mobile projector to overcome the problem. Additionally, facial expressions are emphasized using cartoon techniques: movements around the mouth and eyes are emphasized, the silhouette of the face and shapes of the eyes are varied by projection effects, and color stimuli that induce a particular emotion are added. In an experiment, representative face expressions are generated with Elfoid and emotions conveyed to users are investigated by subjective evaluation.
This chapter focuses on how the intimacy of people with their communication devices results in attitude changes. It discusses the role of mobile phones, e-mail, text messages, and online interaction in modern day life. Communication technology helps people stay connected with one another despite not being physically present in the same place. However, the drawback seems to be that people give priority to people who are online rather than people who are physically present with them. The chapter explores the attachment of people with the Internet, which provides experiences that break the monotony of work, whether professional or personal. It further discusses the use of online role playing games by adolescents, creating different personas for themselves, and making changes that they would like to make in real life.
We commonly identify something seriously defective in a human life that is lived in ignorance of important but unpalatable truths. At the same time, some degree of misapprehension of reality may be necessary for individual health and success. Morally speaking, it is unclear just how insistent we should be about seeking the truth. Robert Sparrow has considered such issues in discussing the manufacture and marketing of robot ‘pets’, such as Sony’s doglike ‘AIBO’ toy and whatever more advanced devices may supersede it. Though it is not his only concern, Sparrow particularly criticizes such robot pets for their illusory appearance of being living things. He fears that some individuals will subconsciously buy into the illusion, and come to sentimentalize interactions that fail to constitute genuine relationships. In replying to Sparrow, I emphasize that this would be continuous with much of the minor sentimentality that we already indulge in from day to day. Although a disposition to seek the truth is morally virtuous, the virtue concerned must allow for at least some categories of exceptions. Despite Sparrow’s concerns about robot pets (and robotics more generally), we should be lenient about familiar, relatively benign, kinds of self-indulgence in forming beliefs about reality. Sentimentality about robot pets seems to fall within these categories. Such limited self-indulgence can co-exist with ordinary honesty and commitment to truth.
It is remarkable how much robotics research is promoted by appealing to the idea that the only way to deal with a looming demographic crisis is to develop robots to look after older persons. This paper surveys and assesses the claims made on behalf of robots in relation to their capacity to meet the needs of older persons. We consider each of the roles that has been suggested for robots in aged care and attempt to evaluate how successful robots might be in these roles. We do so from the perspective of writers concerned primarily with the quality of aged care, paying particular attention to the social and ethical implications of the introduction of robots, rather than from the perspective of robotics, engineering, or computer science. We emphasis the importance of the social and emotional needs of older persons—which, we argue, robots are incapable of meeting—in almost any task involved in their care. Even if robots were to become capable of filling some service roles in the aged-care sector, economic pressures on the sector would most likely ensure that the result was a decrease in the amount of human contact experienced by older persons being cared for, which itself would be detrimental to their well-being. This means that the prospects for the ethical use of robots in the aged-care sector are far fewer than first appears. More controversially, we believe that it is not only misguided, but actually unethical, to attempt to substitute robot simulacra for genuine social interaction. A subsidiary goal of this paper is to draw attention to the discourse about aged care and robotics and locate it in the context of broader social attitudes towards older persons. We conclude by proposing a deliberative process involving older persons as a test for the ethics of the use of robots in aged care.
Robot therapy for elderly residents in a care house has been conducted since June 2005. Two therapeutic seal robots were introduced and activated for over 9 hours every day to interact with the residents. This paper presents the results of this experiment. In order to investigate the psychological and social effects of the robots, the activities of the residents in public areas were recorded by video cameras during daytime hours (8:30-18:00) for over 2 months. In addition, the hormones 17-Ketosteroid sulfate (17-KS-S) and 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17-OHCS) in the residents' urine were obtained and analyzed. The results indicate that their social interaction was increased through interaction with the seal robots. Furthermore, the results of the urinary tests showed that the reactions of the subjects' vital organs to stress improved after the introduction of the robots
SUMMARY This paper discusses robots that are operational within a human-inhabited environment. Specifically, we identify different roles that such robots can adopt, reflecting different human-robot relationships. We discuss three different roles of robots in a project where we develop a robot as a therapeutic tool for children with autism: the robot as a therapeutic playmate, the robot as a social mediator, and the robot as a model social agent. Implica- tions of these roles that go beyond this particular project are discussed.
We examined peer-reviewed studies in order to understand the current status of empirically-based evidence on the clinical applications of robots in the diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Studies are organized into four broad categories: (a) the response of individuals with ASD to robots or robot-like behavior in comparison to human behavior, (b) the use of robots to elicit behaviors, (c) the use of robots to model, teach, and/or practice a skill, and (d) the use of robots to provide feedback on performance. A critical review of the literature revealed that most of the findings are exploratory and have methodological limitations that make it difficult to draw firm conclusions about the clinical utility of robots. Finally, we outline the research needed to determine the incremental validity of this technique.
Obra que estudia cómo las nuevas tecnologías de comunicación y las redes sociales que a través de ellas se han generado dan soporte a una nueva forma de establecer relaciones entre las personas y, por lo tanto, de nuevas formas de soledad.
It is the author belief that cybernetics should be considered not merely as a program to be carried out in the future, but as an existing science. In this book the author's intention is to express and to exemplify his ideas on cybernetics and to display some of his personal philosophical reflections
This article addresses design issues that are relevant in the AURORA project which aims at developing an autonomous, mobile robot as a therapeutic tool for children with autism. Cognitive theories of mindreading are discussed and related to the AURORA project. This approach is put in the broader context of interactive environments, which autonomous mobile robots are a special case of. Implications of this research for interactive environments in general, and virtual environments in particular are discussed. Keywords: Human-Robot Interaction, Mindreading, Autism, Rehabilitation, Interactive Environments 1. INTRODUCTION This article discusses the use of interactive environments (software or robotic) as learning and teaching tools for the rehabilitation of children with autism. The discussions draw upon experience gained in the AURORA project, which develops an autonomous, mobile robot as a therapeutic tool for children with autism (Dautenhahn, 1999
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