TY - JOUR
T1 - Imagining public space robots of the near-future
AU - Sumartojo, Shanti
AU - Lundberg, Robert
AU - Tian, Leimin
AU - Carreno-Medrano, Pamela
AU - Kulić, Dana
AU - Mintrom, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by a 2020 Interdisciplinary Research Grant provided by the Monash University Data Futures Institute. The authors wish to thank all the research participants for their involvement in this project and the three anonymous reviewers for their comments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
MDTHM_EVT
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - In this paper we discuss how people understand robots when they imagine relations with such technologies in near-future settings. We argue that imagination forms an important part of the assemblage of robotic technologies, because it is central in how people relate to, understand and feel about robotic bodies, behaviours and intent. As we will show, the terms in which people imagine robots as relational emerge from the contexts of their activities, their potential effects on people, and also what people already know and feel about these and other technologies. We discuss insights from a study that asked research participants to discuss whether robots ‘feel right’ in different public space settings. Building on growing scholarship in robot geographies, we show how imaginative responses to robots are located in dynamic relational configurations that draw together the contexts, appearance, behaviours and perceived intentions of robots, and people's existing understandings of technology to understand what robots might or could do. An imaginative account of robot geographies offers interdisciplinary value by positing new frameworks for how robots are understood relationally, and in terms of possibility, that can contribute to studies in social robotics.
AB - In this paper we discuss how people understand robots when they imagine relations with such technologies in near-future settings. We argue that imagination forms an important part of the assemblage of robotic technologies, because it is central in how people relate to, understand and feel about robotic bodies, behaviours and intent. As we will show, the terms in which people imagine robots as relational emerge from the contexts of their activities, their potential effects on people, and also what people already know and feel about these and other technologies. We discuss insights from a study that asked research participants to discuss whether robots ‘feel right’ in different public space settings. Building on growing scholarship in robot geographies, we show how imaginative responses to robots are located in dynamic relational configurations that draw together the contexts, appearance, behaviours and perceived intentions of robots, and people's existing understandings of technology to understand what robots might or could do. An imaginative account of robot geographies offers interdisciplinary value by positing new frameworks for how robots are understood relationally, and in terms of possibility, that can contribute to studies in social robotics.
KW - Collage
KW - Emerging technologies
KW - Imagination
KW - Public space
KW - Robot geographies
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107933751&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.06.006
DO - 10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.06.006
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85107933751
SN - 0016-7185
VL - 124
SP - 99
EP - 109
JO - Geoforum
JF - Geoforum
ER -