Motivation

In political and media discourse, social robots are often seen as possible solutions for pressing societal problems such as challenges in the health care sector, the climate crises, and changing working conditions. Unlike industrial robots that take over certain tasks in isolation from human workers, social robots should be integrated in social settings collaborating with and alongside people. Social robots are still under development; however, more and more social robots leave the laboratories and factory floors to enter social life at workplaces, homes, schools, and hospitals. The development and introduction of social robots into everyday life requires deep understanding of contextual routines and meaning making processes that are interwoven with the construction of identities, values, and norms. Traditional approaches in robotics have a strong focus on cognitive processes of sense making, isolated interaction between ‘user’ and robot, and quantitative evaluations and measurements. However, the development and introduction of robots for and in social contexts require theories and methods that are open for local complexity of social context, diverse user groups, and situated sense-making processes. Especially the Scandinavian countries have been pioneers in participatory and co-creation research and design. In recent decades, we can see more and more qualitive and participatory projects contributing to the field of social robotics and human-robot interaction with critical, nuanced, and informative knowledge from all over the world.

Aim

The aim of the workshop is to gather Danish researchers from within Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) to present current research projects and discuss challenges and possibilities of SSH research in social robotics.  

Central questions are:

• How can SSH contribute to social robotics?
• What can SSH learn from social robotics?
• How can we bridge interdisciplinary approaches to social robotics?
• What are the central challenges in social robotics and how can they be dealt with?

Form:

The presentations are structured in three rounds. In each round we will have 4 presentation of ca 5 minutes. Each round will be followed by a 10-minute discussion.

10:00-10:05   Introduction by Antonia Krummheuer

 

10:15-10:45   1. Round – Challenges of SSH in social robotics

• Challenges for SSH research in social robotics
  by Johanna Seibt, Århus University
• Challenges of Interdisciplinarity in HRI: What is a Robot and Who am I?
  by Glenda Hannibal, Ulm University, Germany
• What kind of sociality are social robots aiming for?
  by Kerstin Fischer, University of Southern Denmark
• How sociology can contribute to development of socially relevant robots
  by Antonia Krummheuer, Aalborg University

5 minutes break

10:50-11:20    2. Round – SSH perspectives on human-robot interactions

• Human – machine interaction at work
  by Jacob Rubæk Holm and Jørgen Stamhus, Aalborg University
• How insights may be gained from interactional analysis of robotics and robotic analysis of interaction – by Gitte Rasmussen, University of Southern Denmark
• Offers as reason for the encounter in human-robot interaction
  by Kristian Mortensen, University of Southern Denmark
• Using User-Generated Videos to Understand Interactions with Robots in Public Places
  by Sara Nielsen, Aalborg University

5 minutes break

11:25-11:55    3. Round – SSH perspectives on robots in care contexts

• Serving Robots – a perspective on human-robot dependence
  by Jette Ernst, Roskilde University
• Care and Creativity: Rethinking Values of Participation in Human-Robotic Interaction
  by Emanuela Marchetti and Chunfang Zhou, University of Southern Denmark
• Collaboration between mobile service robots and hospital staff in Danish hospitals
  by Kristina Tornbjerg Eriksen, Aalborg University
• The Art of Human-Robot Interaction: Creative Approaches from the Visual & Performing Arts
  by Elizabeth Jochum, Aalborg University

11:55-12:00    Concluding remarks by Elizabeth Jochum