Embodied responses to musical experience detected by human bio-feedback brain features in a geminoid augmented architecture

This paper presents the conceptual framework for a study of musical experience and the associated architecture centred on Human-Humanoid Interaction (HHI). On the grounds of the theoretical and experimental literature on the biological foundation of music, the grammar of music perception and the perception and feeling of emotions in music hearing, we argue that music cognition is specific and that it is realized by a cognitive capacity for music that consists of conceptual and affective constituents. We discuss the relationship between such constituents that enables understanding, that is extracting meaning from music at the different levels of the organization of sounds that are felt as bearers of affects and emotions. To account for the way such cognitive mechanisms are realized in music hearing and extended to movements and gestures we bring in the construct of tensions and of music experience as a cognitive frame. Finally, we describe the principled approach to the design and the architecture of a BCI-controlled robotic system that can be employed to map and specify the constituents of the cognitive capacity for music as well as to simulate their contribution to music meaning understanding in the context of music experience by displaying it through the Geminoid robot movements

Assessment of Society\u27s Awareness, Acceptance, and Demand for Robotic Wait Staff in Restaurant Operations

This research study consists of an assessment of participants\u27 awareness of robotics in general and also their acceptance and consumer demand for mobile, humanoid robots in the role of robotic waiters in restaurants. The study also includes the awareness and consumer demand for Microsoft Surface Computers to be potentially used as restaurant tables capable of electronic order entry, payment, and entertainment. The social impacts of such high technology upon the human occupation of waiter or waitress were also examined relative to the resistance to automation from current human wait staff. The overall results of the study were luke-warm demand for robotic waiters, strong demand for Microsoft Surface Computers, and resistance to robotic waiters among most wait staff

Cultural difference in Robotics: Japan and Germany - an overview

Since the introduction of the first industry robots much has happened in the field of robotics since the 1970s. The latest robots are now capable of taking on a variety of tasks nearly autonomously. There are vast differences in approaches to robotics development and encounters to robots through media between Japan and the Western world (represented by Germany), particularly in the field of service robotics, that will be in the focus of this study. In addition, an overview of the cultural background used for comparing Japan and Germany, the robot kingdom and the latest robots research trends will also be covered in detail

Robot Companions: The Animation of Technology and the Technology of Animation in Japan

Contemporary Japan is often described in utopian terms as a place where humans and nonhumans live and work together in harmony. This acceptance of nonhuman others is explained by some anthropologists as stemming from an “animist unconscious” (Allison 2006) that allows people to attribute “life” to robots and other artefacts, a notion that is explicitly linked to the “Shinto universe” of “native animist beliefs” (Robertson 2010). Contrary to the darker tone of robot fantasies in the EuroAmerican tradition, this “techno-animism” turns technological objects into non-alienating allies, or so the narrative goes. This chapter critically examines the ideological underpinnings of these claims. Instead of attributing “modern techno-animism” to a native and naïve ontology, the author argues that all forms of animism are “techno-animism” because they are based on a technology of animation. In turn, this technology of animation is based on what Bird-David (1999) understands as “relatedness”, but which the author hesitates to call a “relational ontology” because what enables animation is often a relation that emerges from an unexpected and surprising encounter. Drawing on the work of Japanese roboticists and anthropologists of technology, this chapter proffers the heuristic device of an “animation continuum” to better apprehend the broad range of relations that result in animation

Machine Performers: Agents in a Multiple Ontological State

In this thesis, the author explores and develops new attributes for machine performers and merges the trans-disciplinary fields of the performing arts and artificial intelligence. The main aim is to redefine the term “embodiment” for robots on the stage and to demonstrate that this term requires broadening in various fields of research. This redefining has required a multifaceted theoretical analysis of embodiment in the field of artificial intelligence (e.g. the uncanny valley), as well as the construction of new robots for the stage by the author. It is hoped that these practical experimental examples will generate more research by others in similar fields. Even though the historical lineage of robotics is engraved with theatrical strategies and dramaturgy, further application of constructive principles from the performing arts and evidence from psychology and neurology can shift the perception of robotic agents both on stage and in other cultural environments. In this light, the relation between representation, movement and behaviour of bodies has been further explored to establish links between constructed bodies (as in artificial intelligence) and perceived bodies (as performers on the theatrical stage). In the course of this research, several practical works have been designed and built, and subsequently presented to live audiences and research communities. Audience reactions have been analysed with surveys and discussions. Interviews have also been conducted with choreographers, curators and scientists about the value of machine performers. The main conclusions from this study are that fakery and mystification can be used as persuasive elements to enhance agency. Morphologies can also be applied that tightly couple brain and sensorimotor actions and lead to a stronger stage presence. In fact, if this lack of presence is left out of human replicants, it causes an “uncanny” lack of agency. Furthermore, the addition of stage presence leads to stronger identification from audiences, even for bodies dissimilar to their own. The author demonstrates that audience reactions are enhanced by building these effects into machine body structures: rather than identification through mimicry, this causes them to have more unambiguously biological associations. Alongside these traits, atmospheres such as those created by a cast of machine performers tend to cause even more intensely visceral responses. In this thesis, “embodiment” has emerged as a paradigm shift – as well as within this shift – and morphological computing has been explored as a method to deepen this visceral immersion. Therefore, this dissertation considers and builds machine performers as “true” performers for the stage, rather than mere objects with an aura. Their singular and customized embodiment can enable the development of non-anthropocentric performances that encompass the abstract and conceptual patterns in motion and generate – as from human performers – empathy, identification and experiential reactions in live audiences

Sensorial feedback contribution to the sense of embodiment in brain-machine interfaces: a systematic review

The sense of embodiment (SoE) is an essential element of human perception that allows individuals to control and perceive the movements of their body parts. Brain–machine interface (BMI) technology can induce SoE in real time, and adding sensory feedback through various modalities has been shown to improve BMI control and elicit SoEe. In this study, we conducted a systematic review to study BMI performance in studies that integrated SoE variables and analyzed the contribution of single or multimodal sensory stimulation. Out of 493 results, only 20 studies analyzed the SoE of humans using BMIs. Analysis of these articles revealed that 40% of the studies relating BMIs with sensory stimulation and SoE primarily focused on manipulating visual stimuli, particularly in terms of coherence (i.e., synchronous vs. asynchronous stimuli) and realism (i.e., humanoid or robotic appearance). However, no study has analyzed the independent contributions of different sensory modalities to SoE and BMI performance. These results suggest that providing a detailed description of the outcomes resulting from independent and combined effects of different sensory modalities on the experience of SoE during BMI control may be relevant for the design of neurorehabilitation programs.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio