Time: Thursday June 22, 2017 from 10:00 to 17:00 (time frame subject to change)
Location: University of Copenhagen Southern Campus (formerly known as KUA), Room 16.4.11. Staircase 16 (yellow), 4th floor. Det Humanistiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet Søndre Campus, Karen Blixens Plads 8 2300 København S (for a detailed map click here).
What is the role of repetition and spontaneity in human-robot social interactions? How do they relate to the possibility of enhancing human creativity in interactions with robots?
The adjective ‘robotic’ used to conjure up associations with the ‘mechanical’ or ‘blindly repetitive’. But the dynamic regimes of robots have long changed and new visions of placing robots in to society call for new perspectives on the role of robots as affordance of spontaneity and creativity, Repetition is often associated with the ‘mechanic’ in the strict sense of a linear mechanism, but can also be linked with the theoretical discussion of iteration and performativity. Repetitive sequences in human interactions often engender the urge for deviations, for the exercise of a ‘faculty’ we call spontaneity, which relates in complex ways to creativity.
The aim of this one-day interdisciplinary workshop is to explore whether the facts of human-robot interaction as researched so far can illuminate the relation between repetition, spontaneity, and creativity. Is it desirable to build strictly repetitive robots? Where would we prefer robots that display ‘erratic’ behavior or unpredictable deviations? Is this all there is to spontaneity? Are the repetitions of robots like the repetitions of humans? Will humans be completely enthralled by the repetitive routines of robots, or can human spontaneity be stimulated in interactions with robots? Can we use robots to enhance creativity?
We invite abstracts for short presentations (15 minutes) on these or closely related questions. Please submit an abstract (about 200 words) to Gunhild Borggreen at gunhild@hum.ku.dk by June 12.
To register for the workshop (without a presentation), please write to Gunhild Borggreen at gunhild@hum.ku.dk. Registration deadline: June 12.
Participation in the workshop is free of charge, but registration is necessary.
Sponsored by the Research Network TRANSOR (Transdisciplinary Studies in Social Robotics).
