The rise of social robots : a review of the recent literature

In this article I explore the most recent literature on social robotics and argue that the field of robotics is evolving in a direction that will soon require a systematic collaboration between engineers and sociologists. After discussing several problems relating to social robotics, I emphasize that two key concepts in this research area are scenario and persona. These are already popular as design tools in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and an approach based on them is now being adopted in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). As robots become more and more sophisticated, engineers will need the help of trained sociologists and psychologists in order to create personas and scenarios and to " teach " humanoids how to behave in various circumstances

I love you to death : the voice of the woman artist : sex, violence, sentimentality

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (p. 114-117).At a dinner party in Durban after the opening of Come, a 2007 exhibition of Michaelis MFA students, a woman asked me about my work. When I told her it was "the bullets", by way of description (One Hundred Bullets With Your Name On Them), she said something along the lines of "oh, that's so fascinating, I really had thought a man had made them"

Go up in smoke:proof of concept study on tobacco craving in a VR environment

Background: Recent technological developments in virtual reality (VR) provide a potential to reduce the burden of tobacco addiction. Despite efforts to reduce smoking initiation and to increase smoking cessation, still approximately 19.2% of female and 25.7% of male adults in the Netherlands smoke. Recent research indicates even higher prevalence rates in vulnerable groups, such as individuals with intellectual disability, mental illness, or low socio-economic status. One of the factors in the persistence of tobacco related disorders, is that smoking cessation programs are only successful in about 10-16% of patients. Moreover, existing treatments may not be suitable for vulnerable groups, which might hinder uptake and effectiveness. Several studies in the area of VR have assessed the potential to evoke craving as part of cue-reactivity. However, research on cue-exposure therapy, which is based on the extinction of a conditioned response, reports only limited effects. Thus, teaching coping strategies in VR that are related to real-life situations, might be a potential approach for behavior change, especially in groups that barely benefit of existing cessation programs.Methods: This research comprises two evaluations with each three iterations as part of a user-centered development approach. Recruited participants were heavy smokers (Fagerström >= 5) from three Dutch healthcare institutions, involving individuals with intellectual disability, mental illness, and pulmonal issues. The first part of participants derived from every subgroup participated (1) to improve the cue-reactivity environment, procedure and related measurements. The other part applied (2) virtual coping strategies after being exposed to the previously improved cue-reactivity environment to explore and refine possibilities for craving reduction. Self-reported data (VAS, QSU-Brief), psychophysiological measures (GSR, HR), and eye-tracking were used as a potential continuous measurement of craving. Moreover, the think-aloud protocol was employed to improve the user’s experience based on the cognitive insights.Findings: Twenty-three participants participated in the first study group to improve the cue-reactivity and related measurements within the virtual environment. Preliminary results indicate a significantly increased level of craving after exposure compared to baseline. Participants in all subgroups successfully managed to use the VR-application while an increasing age revealed more problems in handling controls. Smoking-related cues and contexts were rated highly individually due to personal habits. The incorporated multimodal interactions involving smell, sound, and haptics have been identified to be important factors that influence cravings. Moreover, social influences and emotional distress have been reported to influence the urge to smoke. To continuously monitor craving levels in vulnerable groups, eye-tracking has been reported unfeasible due to complicate calibration procedures. Furthermore, motion artifacts and uncontrollable contextual variables might bias the measurement of galvanic skin responses.Discussion: The preliminary results are in line with the previous research in the field of VR cue-reactivity by showing significant increases in craving within the subgroup of vulnerable individuals. The iterative development approach indicates a need for highly personalizable environments with complex multimodal cues, that involve social interactions and affective influences. Future research should investigate the potential of coping skills training by providing scientifically validated relaxation and distraction exercises.Acknowledgement: This work is supported by the Pioneers in Health Care project GoUpInSmoke. The authors gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Sytze Sicco Smit, Christa ten Bolscher, Saskia van Horsen, and all our participants

Tell me more! Assessing interactions with social robots from speech

As social robots are increasingly introduced into health interventions, one potential area where they might prove valuable is in supporting people’s psychological health through conversation. Given the importance of self-disclosure for psychological health, this study assessed the viability of using social robots for eliciting rich disclosures that identify needs and emotional states in human interaction partners. Three within-subject experiments were conducted with participants interacting with another person, a humanoid social robot, and a disembodied conversational agent (voice assistant). We performed a number of objective evaluations of disclosures to these three agents via speech content and voice analyses and also probed participants’ subjective evaluations of their disclosures to three agents. Our findings suggest that participants overall disclose more to humans than artificial agents, that agents’ embodiment influences disclosure quantity and quality, and that people are generally aware of differences in their personal disclosures to three agents studied here. Together, the findings set the stage for further investigation into the psychological underpinnings of self-disclosures to artificial agents and their potential role in eliciting disclosures as part of mental and physical health interventions

Engenderneered Machines in Science Fiction Film

The fear that human creations might backfire and attack their creators has been a mainstay of science fiction at least since Mary Shelley?s Frankenstein. The misgivings become particularly acute when human-engineered imitations of human beings (i.e., robots and cyborgs) raise questions regarding how humans can be distinguished from machines. Assumptions about gender also infuse the ways humans conceive and react to their mechanical progeny (i.e., robots and cyborgs). Whenever human-like creations are embodied, they encounter the fundamental bodily quality of sexuality. The cinematic exploration "fleshes out" how posthuman technological innovations are engendered in their engineering. By problematizing the roles that gender can play in the very conceptions of what counts as human or machine, gender constructions infuse technological innovation in various challenging ways. "Engenderneering" may be understood as the construction or interpretation of a gender- neutral object so that its gender becomes part of its essence. This personification, far from merely personifying an object, engenders the object by making gender roles and expectations central to how humans interact with non-human (usually also interpreted as less-than-human) entities. For example, ships have been christened traditionally as female, the reliable (i.e., motherly) bearers that keep passengers afloat upon the amniotic oceans. Gender is already so intertwined with human experience that the terra "engender"—aside from its intransitive sense of attributing sexual identity—acquires its primary meaning as a synonym for creation itself. Anna Balsamo (1996) laments that new technologies such as virtual reality simply "reproduce, in high-tech guise, traditional narratives about the gendered, race-marked body" (132). In the case of science fiction films, the project of engenderneering is rarely innovative. Instead, the emergence of new machines and forms of life leave basically intact the familiar stories of "proper" feminine roles

Ethical perceptions towards real-world use of companion robots with older people and people with dementia: Survey opinions among younger adults

Background: Use of companion robots may reduce older people’s depression, loneliness and agitation. This benefit has to be contrasted against possible ethical concerns raised by philosophers in the field around issues such as deceit, infantilisation, reduced human contact and accountability. Research directly assessing prevalence of such concerns among relevant stakeholders, however, remains limited, even though their views clearly have relevance in the debate. For example, any discrepancies between ethicists and stakeholders might in itself be a relevant ethical consideration while concerns perceived by stakeholders might identify immediate barriers to successful implementation. Methods: We surveyed 67 younger adults after they had live interactions with companion robot pets while attending an exhibition on intimacy, including the context of intimacy for older people. We asked about their perceptions of ethical issues. Participants generally had older family members, some with dementia. Results: Most participants (40/67, 60%) reported having no ethical concerns towards companion robot use when surveyed with an open question. Twenty (30%) had some concern, the most common being reduced human contact (10%), followed by deception (6%). However, when choosing from a list, the issue perceived as most concerning was equality of access to devices based on socioeconomic factors (m=4.72 on a scale 1-7), exceeding more commonly hypothesized issues such as infantilising (m=3.45), and deception (m=3.44). The lowest-scoring issues were potential for injury or harm (m=2.38) and privacy concerns (m=2.17). Over half (39/67 (58%)) would have bought a device for an older relative. Cost was a common reason for choosing not to purchase a device. Conclusions: Although a relatively small study we demonstrated discrepancies between ethical concerns raised in the philosophical literature and those likely to make the decision to buy a companion robot. Such discrepancies, between philosophers and ‘end-users’ in care of older people, and in methods of ascertainment, are worthy of further empirical research and discussion. Our participants were more concerned about economic issues and equality of access, an important consideration for those involved with care of older people. On the other hand the concerns proposed by ethicists seem unlikely to be a barrier to use of companion robots

Ethical perceptions towards real-world use of companion robots with older people and people with dementia: survey opinions among younger adults

Contains fulltext : 221334.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Background: Use of companion robots may reduce older people's depression, loneliness and agitation. This benefit has to be contrasted against possible ethical concerns raised by philosophers in the field around issues such as deceit, infantilisation, reduced human contact and accountability. Research directly assessing prevalence of such concerns among relevant stakeholders, however, remains limited, even though their views clearly have relevance in the debate. For example, any discrepancies between ethicists and stakeholders might in itself be a relevant ethical consideration while concerns perceived by stakeholders might identify immediate barriers to successful implementation. Methods: We surveyed 67 younger adults after they had live interactions with companion robot pets while attending an exhibition on intimacy, including the context of intimacy for older people. We asked about their perceptions of ethical issues. Participants generally had older family members, some with dementia. Results: Most participants (40/67, 60%) reported having no ethical concerns towards companion robot use when surveyed with an open question. Twenty (30%) had some concern, the most common being reduced human contact (10%), followed by deception (6%). However, when choosing from a list, the issue perceived as most concerning was equality of access to devices based on socioeconomic factors (m = 4.72 on a scale 1-7), exceeding more commonly hypothesized issues such as infantilising (m = 3.45), and deception (m = 3.44). The lowest-scoring issues were potential for injury or harm (m = 2.38) and privacy concerns (m = 2.17). Over half (39/67 (58%)) would have bought a device for an older relative. Cost was a common reason for choosing not to purchase a device. Conclusions: Although a relatively small study, we demonstrated discrepancies between ethical concerns raised in the philosophical literature and those likely to make the decision to buy a companion robot. Such discrepancies, between philosophers and ‘end-users’ in care of older people, and in methods of ascertainment, are worthy of further empirical research and discussion. Our participants were more concerned about economic issues and equality of access, an important consideration for those involved with care of older people. On the other hand the concerns proposed by ethicists seem unlikely to be a barrier to use of companion robots.10 p

A fictional dualism model of social robots

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