The 16th edition of the ICSR (ICSR 2024) brought together researchers and practitioners working on human-robot interaction and the integration of social robots into our society. The title of the conference included the addition of „AI“. This was a clarification and demarcation related to the fact that since 2024 there have been two other formats with the name ICSR. ICSR’24 (ICSR + AI) was held as a face-to-face conference in Odense, Denmark, from 23 to 26 October 2024. The theme of the conference was „Empowering Humanity: The role of social and collaborative robotics in shaping our future“. The topics of the Call for Papers included „Collaborative robots in service applications (construction, agriculture, etc.)“, „Human-robot interaction and collaboration“, „Affective and cognitive sciences for socially interactive robots“, and „Context awareness, expectation and intention understanding“. The general chairs were Oskar Palinko, University of Southern Denmark, and Leon Bodenhagen, University of Southern Denmark. The three proceedings volumes were published in March 2025 and are available free of charge until 23 April 2025.
The paper „Social and Collaborative Robots in Prison“ by Tamara Siegmann and Oliver Bendel was published in the ICSR 2024 proceedings in March 2025. From the abstract: „Social and collaborative robots are rarely found in prisons, a finding that applies worldwide with a few exceptions. Yet they could help with numerous tasks. How such robots can and should be used in prisons is explored in this article. It examines the situation in Switzerland and includes expert interviews with the Inter-cantonal Commissioner for Digitalization and several prison directors and their staff as well as inmates. It becomes clear that there are certainly areas in which social and collaborative robots would be useful and beneficial or even preferable to humans. However, there are also arguments and reservations against their use. The results can be transferred to other states under the rule of law with all due caution. It would be important to conduct further research in other countries and cultures.“ The book – the first of three volumes – can be downloaded via SpringerLink.
Fig.: Tamara Siegmann and Oliver Bendel at the ICSR 2024 in Odense, Denmark
The paper „Social, But Still Uncanny“ by Katharina Kühne, Oliver Bendel, Yuefang Zhou, and Martin H. Fischer was published in the ICSR 2024 proceedings in March 2025. From the abstract: „The Uncanny Valley hypothesis proposes that as robots become more human-like, they are initially liked better but then elicit a feeling of eeriness, peaking just before achieving full human resemblance. It remains unclear whether context can modify this effect. In an online experiment, participants were primed with a vignette about either robots as social companions (social context priming) or a neutral topic, and then rated images of robots on human-likeness, likability, trust, and creepiness. We found a negative linear relationship between a robot’s human-likeness and its likability and trustworthiness and a positive linear relationship between a robot’s human-likeness and creepiness. Social context priming improved overall likability and trust of robots but did not modulate the Uncanny Valley effect. This indicates that, while presenting robots in a social con-text can improve their acceptance, this does not change our inherent discomfort with increasing human-like robots.“ The book – the second of three volumes – can be downloaded via SpringerLink.
Fig.: Katharina Kühne at the ICSR 2024 in Odense, Denmark
ICSR is one of the leading conferences for social robotics worldwide. The 17th edition will take place from 10 to 12 September 2025 in Naples, Italy. Participants will meet for two days at the Parthenope University of Naples and for the third day at the Città della Scienza conference center. In 2022, the conference took place in Florence, Italy. Scientists from all over the world met at the Camera di Commercio di Firenze. Dozens of robots were exhibited in the spacious inner courtyard, including the then new ARI from PAL Robotics. Lectures and workshops were held in the rooms on the sides. The conference website of ICSR 2025 is online since January: icsr2025.eu.
The Uncanny Valley effect is a famous hypothesis. Whether it can be influenced by context is still unclear. In an online experiment, Katharina Kühne and her co-authors Oliver Bendel, Yuefang Zue, and Martin Fischer found a negative linear relationship between a robot’s human likeness and its likeability and trustworthiness, and a positive linear relationship between a robot’s human likeness and its uncaniness. „Social context priming improved overall likability and trust of robots but did not modulate the Uncanny Valley effect.“ (Abstract) Katharina Kühne outlined these conclusions in her presentation „Social, but Still Uncanny“ – the title of the paper – on 25 October 2024 at the International Conference on Social Robotics 2024 in Odense, Denmark. Like Yuefang Zue and Martin Fischer, she is a researcher at the University of Potsdam. Oliver Bendel teaches and researches at the FHNW School of Business. Together with Tamara Siegmann, he presented a second paper at the ICSR.
Friday morning of the ICSR 2024 (23 – 25 October 2024) was filled with an exciting and inspiring program. This included the Special Session Arts. The Robot Design Competition was organized as a parallel session. Fourteen projects of varying maturity were presented. There were three categories: „1. Innovative Idea: The entries, which are innovative but are in the early stages of conceptualization will be considered for this category; 2. Innovative Solution: The entries, which have demonstrated maturity of the proposed solution through prototypes will be considered for this category; 3. Innovative Product: The entries, which have targeted specific applications through a more matured robotics solutions as a potential product will be considered for this category.“ (Website ICSR) The judges included Amit Kumar Pandey (Rovial Space), Kimmo Vänni (Häme University of Applied Sciences HAMK), Mariacarla Staffa (University of Naples Parthenope), and Oliver Bendel (FHNW School of Business). The winner in the Innovative Solution category was „Modular Robotic Furniture“. The researchers presented adaptive furniture that is a side table one moment, a dining table for several people the next, and a container for dirty dishes or worn laundry the next.
The deadline for the International Conference on Social Robotics 2024 (ICSR 2024) has been extended again. Experts in social robotics and related fields have until July 19 to submit their full papers. The prestigious event was last held in Florence (2022) and Qatar (2023). Now it enters its next round. The 16th edition will bring together researchers and practitioners working on human-robot interaction and the integration of social robots into our society. The title of the conference includes the addition „AI“. This is a clarification and demarcation that has to do with the fact that there will be two further formats with the name ICSR in 2024. ICSR’24 (ICSR + AI) will take place as a face-to-face conference in Odense, Denmark, from 23 to 26 October 2024. The theme of this year’s conference is „Empowering Humanity: The role of social and collaborative robotics in shaping our future“. The topics of the Call for Papers include „collaborative robots in service applications (in construction, agriculture, etc.)“, „Human-robot interaction and collaboration“, „Affective and cognitive sciences for socially interactive robots“, and „Context awareness, expectation, and intention understanding“. The general chairs are Oskar Palinko, University of Southern Denmark, and Leon Bodenhagen, University of Southern Denmark. More information is available at icsr2024.dk.
The deadline for the International Conference on Social Robotics 2024 (ICSR 2024) has been extended. Experts in social robotics and related fields have until July 12 to submit their full papers. The prestigious event was last held in Florence (2022) and Qatar (2023). Now it enters its next round. The 16th edition will bring together researchers and practitioners working on human-robot interaction and the integration of social robots into our society. The title of the conference includes the addition „AI“. This is a clarification and demarcation that has to do with the fact that there will be two further formats with the name ICSR in 2024. ICSR’24 (ICSR + AI) will take place as a face-to-face conference in Odense, Denmark, from 23 to 26 October 2024. The theme of this year’s conference is „Empowering Humanity: The role of social and collaborative robotics in shaping our future“. The topics of the Call for Papers include „collaborative robots in service applications (in construction, agriculture, etc.)“, „Human-robot interaction and collaboration“, „Affective and cognitive sciences for socially interactive robots“, and „Context awareness, expectation, and intention understanding“. The general chairs are Oskar Palinko, University of Southern Denmark, and Leon Bodenhagen, University of Southern Denmark. More information is available at icsr2024.dk.
Fig.: The venue of the conference (Photo: Jacob Christensen)
The deadline for the International Conference on Social Robotics 2024 (ICSR 2024) is approaching. Experts in social robotics and related fields have until July 5 to submit their full papers. The prestigious event was last held in Florence (2022) and Qatar (2023). Now it enters its next round. The 16th edition will bring together researchers and practitioners working on human-robot interaction and the integration of social robots into our society. The title of the conference includes the addition „AI“. This is a clarification and demarcation that has to do with the fact that there will be two further formats with the name ICSR in 2024. ICSR’24 (ICSR + AI) will take place as a face-to-face conference in Odense, Denmark, from 23 to 26 October 2024. The theme of this year’s conference is „Empowering Humanity: The role of social and collaborative robotics in shaping our future“. The topics of the Call for Papers include „Collaborative robots in service applications (in construction, agriculture, etc.)“, „Human-robot interaction and collaboration“, „Affective and cognitive sciences for socially interactive robots“, and „Context awareness, expectation, and intention understanding“. The general chairs are Oskar Palinko, University of Southern Denmark, and Leon Bodenhagen, University of Southern Denmark. More information is available at icsr2024.dk.
