Im Future Lab „Soziale Roboter und GPTs“ am 6. Juni 2024 auf der LEARNTEC kann man mit Navel und Alpha Mini interagieren und kommunizieren. Man kann sie etwa zu Bewegungen des Körpers veranlassen, ihre gestischen und mimischen Fähigkeiten bewundern oder mit ihnen ein Gespräch führen. Bei beiden Modellen handelt es sich um soziale Roboter, die auf dem neuesten technischen Stand sind und im Lernkontext eingesetzt werden können. Die drei Sessions leitet Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel von der Hochschule für Wirtschaft FHNW mit seinem Impulsvortrag „Soziale Roboter und GPTs im Lernbereich“ ein. Die Ansprechpartner für die beiden Roboter sind Claude Toussaint von navel robotics aus München und Rainer E. Becker von BECKER ROBOTICS aus Wuppertal. Man hat zudem die Möglichkeit, mit einem GPT namens Social Robotics Girl zu kommunizieren, das Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel in seinem Unterricht einsetzt.
In addition to the ICSR in Odense, which focuses on social robotics and artificial intelligence, there is also the ICSR in Naples this year, which organizes a robot competition. In addition, an ICSR conference focusing on biomedicine and the healthcare sector will take place in Singapore from August 16-18, 2024. The website states: „The 16th International Conference on Social Robotics + BioMed (ICSR + BioMed 2024) focuses on interdisciplinary innovation on Bio-inspired, Biomedical, and Surgical Robotics. By fostering the much-needed merging of these disciplines, together with fast emerging Biotech, the conference aims to ensure the lesson learned from these communities blend to unleash the real potential of robots. … The conference will serve as the scientific, technical, and business platform for fostering collaboration, exploration, and advancement in these cutting-edge fields. It will showcase the latest breakthroughs and methodologies, shaping the future of robotics design and applications across several sectors including Biomedical and healthcare.“ (Website ICSR) Papers must be submitted by June 5, 2024. Further information on the conference is available at robicon2024.org.
The upcoming international Robophilosophy Conference 2024 in Aarhus is set to tackle the socio-cultural and ethical questions arising from the use of generative multimodal AIs in social robotics. The event will bring together global scholars from humanities, social sciences, social robotics, and computer science, aiming to produce actionable insights and responsibly address the socio-cultural transformations brought about by social robotics. It is part of the Robophilosophy Conference Series, known for its large scale events for humanities research in social robotics. RP2024 highlights the urgency of closer collaboration between tech experts and societal experts to establish research-based regulations. The program committee includes Sherry Turkle (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Wendell Wallach (The Hastings Center), and Melanie Mitchell (Santa Fe Institute). Among the speakers is Oliver Bendel, who will present his accepted paper „The Universal Robot of the 21st Century“. He has been attending the conference without interruption since 2018.
Fig. A contradictory presentation of an all-purpose robot
The main conference of the ICSR will be held in Odense in 2024, and its full name is „16th International Conference on Social Robotics +AI“. There is also the ICSR-2024 Competition in Naples, Italy. According to the website, it is „The 1st Competition of the International Conference on Social Robotics“. The new format will take place on 30-31 May 2024 (according to a later announcement, it was postponed to May 8 and 9). The General Chair explains the intention of the event: „ICSR Competition aims at being not only a competition but an extraordinary showcase of innovation and talent in the field of robotics. This event marks the convergence of brilliance, where teams comprising students, PhD students, researchers, and esteemed professors will compete in a series of captivating competitions through a groundbreaking exploration into the realms of robotics, where cutting-edge technologies and social applications come together. In the spirit of fostering collaboration and pushing the boundaries of what is possible, our competitions will showcase the diverse capabilities of robotics.“ (Website ICSR-24 Competition) According to the organizers, teams will compete in four different competitions: the Robotic Arm Challenge, the Humanoid Robot Challenge, the Robot Design Challenge, and the Game Jam Challenge. More information is available at www.icsr2024-competition.org.
Fig.: The well-known NAO at the Brugg-Windisch campus
Anyone driving from Doha Old Town to Qatar University to visit the ICSR 2023 would usually pass the DUGONG sculpture by Jeff Koons, one of the world’s most celebrated contemporary artists. According to the Qatar Museums (QM), he often finds inspiration in everyday objects and transforms them into mesmerizing sculptures. Standing over 21 meters tall and 31 meters long, the inflatable dugong is a larger-than-life imagination of the creature gliding effortlessly through a marine habitat. It is nothing less than a celebration of Qatar’s natural heritage. The Emirate is home to the world’s second largest population of dugongs. These unusual and lovable marine mammals are believed to have first appeared in the waters of the Arabian Gulf some 7,500 years ago. According to the website, Qatar Museums commissioned this site-specific installation for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Fig.: The DUGONG by Jeff Koons (Photo: Nihan Karataş)
The 15th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2023) took place in Doha from December 3 to 7, 2023. It was held under the patronage of the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani. The two hosts were Dr. Abdulaziz Al Ali and Prof. Dr. John-John Cabibihan from Qatar University. The two proceedings volumes, „Social Robotics“, Part I (34 papers) and Part II (34 papers), were published in time for the event. „The two-volume set LNAI 14453 and 14454 constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR 2023, held in Doha, Qatar, during December 4-7, 2023. The 68 revised full papers presented in these proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from 83 submissions. They deal with topics around the interaction between humans and intelligent robots and on the integration of robots into the fabric of society. This year the special topic is „Human-Robot Collaboration: Sea; Air; Land; Space and Cyberspace“, focusing on all physical and cyber-physical domains where humans and robots collaborate.“ (Information Springer)
Die ICSR 2023 endete mit einer dreistündigen Bootsfahrt durch die Bucht von Doha. An der Corniche lagern hunderte alte Holzboote, und für den Social Event war ein besonders schönes ausgesucht worden. Es gab ein Dinner und eine Playlist, bei der jeder ein Lied seines Landes angeben konnte. Für Deutschland war „Du hast den Farbfilm vergessen“ von Nina Hagen am Start. Dann wurden Hits aus Indien, Sri Lanka, Bosnien, Italien, Japan etc. gespielt. Die Wissenschaftler und Wissenschaftlerinnen kannten kein Halten mehr und verwandelten das Boot in eine Tanzfläche. Hooman Samani erstellte zwischendurch ein Datenset mit den grundlegenden Emotionen, die auch von sozialen Robotern simuliert werden. Das dazugehörige Video kann unter der Bezeichnung „ICSR 2023 Doha Emotion Dataset“ über www.youtube.com/watch?v=91VWd4MU7ck abgerufen werden. Die ICSR 2023 fand vom 3. bis 7. Dezember 2023 in Qatar statt. Sie gehört neben der Robophilosophy zu den wichtigsten Konferenzen für Soziale Robotik weltweit. Das Programm der Konferenz kann hier heruntergeladen werden. Weitere Informationen über icsr23.qa.
Abb.: Die Gruppe auf dem Boot (Foto: Hooman Samani)
Den Best Paper Award bei der ICSR 2023 in Qatar erhielt Nihan Karataş für ihr Paper „Robotic-Human-Machine-Interface for Elderly Driving: Balancing Embodiment and Anthropomorphism for Improved Acceptance“ (zusammen mit Takahiro Tanaka, Yuki Yoshihara, Hiroko Tanabe, Motoshi Kojima, Masato Endo und Shuhei Manabe). Sie trug es am 6. Dezember 2023 in der Morgensession vor. Aus dem Abstract: „Encouraging self-awareness among elderly drivers while driving with a passenger has the potential to reduce traffic accidents. Highly anthropomorphic Robotic-Human-Machine-Interfaces (RHMIs) have been shown to be effective in providing safe driving and review support by being perceived as fellow passengers. However, it remains unclear which specific anthropomorphic elements in the RHMI’s appearance are necessary to achieve this effect. Identifying these essential elements for elderly driving could lead to a minimal design approach and reduced installation costs in car dashboards. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effects of RHMI embodiment and anthropomorphism level on drivers’ acceptability and user experience quality through a series of RHMI prototypes by conducting a crowdsource video experiment and a driving simulator experiment, respectively. The findings provide insights into the design of a low-cost, minimal, and efficient RHMI as a driving agent.“ Das Programm der Konferenz kann hier heruntergeladen werden. Weitere Informationen über icsr23.qa.
Am 3. Dezember 2023 fand an der Qatar University das Grand Opening der ICSR statt. Diese gehört neben der Robophilosophy zu den wichtigsten Konferenzen für Soziale Robotik weltweit. Die Prominenz aus Politik und Wissenschaft von Qatar besuchte nach dem Grand Opening nicht nur die Messe mit ihren zahlreichen Robotern, sondern auch die Posterpräsentation, die für diesen Zweck von zentraler Stelle vorbereitet worden war. Die Poster sind neben den Vorträgen das wesentliche Element der ICSR. Sie werden durchgehend hängen und am 5. und 6. Dezember von den Verantwortlichen erklärt. Im Bild ist das Poster von Sara Zarubica und Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel zu sehen. Gegenstand ist das Projekt „Pepper as a Learning Partner in a Children’s Hospital“. Das gleichnamige Paper ist in dem Proceedingsband „Social Robotics, 15th International Conference, ICSR 2023, Doha, Qatar, December 3-7, 2023, Proceedings, Part II“ bei Springer erschienen. Das Programm der Konferenz kann hier heruntergeladen werden. Weitere Informationen über icsr23.qa.
The upcoming international Robophilosophy Conference 2024 in Aarhus is set to tackle the socio-cultural and ethical questions arising from the use of generative multimodal AIs in social robotics. The event will bring together global scholars from humanities, social sciences, social robotics, and computer science, aiming to produce actionable insights and responsibly address the socio-cultural transformations brought about by social robotics. It is part of the Robophilosophy Conference Series, known for its large scale events for humanities research in social robotics. RP2024 highlights the urgency of closer collaboration between tech experts and societal experts to establish research-based regulations. The conference will welcome 80-100 talks in plenaries, special workshops, and parallel sessions of reviewed research papers. Virtual attendance is made possible for those unable to attend in person. Interested parties are invited to submit their papers on the conference topics. Key dates to note: Deadline for workshop/panel proposal submissions is January 31, 2024. Deadline for short papers and posters is February 15, 2024. More information at cas.au.dk/en/robophilosophy/conferences/rpc2024.
The International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2023) is, next to Robophilosophy, the most important conference on social robotics. The deadline for paper submission is approaching. „The 15th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2023) will bring together researchers and practitioners working on the interaction between humans and intelligent robots and on the integration of social robots into our society. ICSR 2023 will take place in Doha as a face-to-face conference on December 4-7, 2023. This will be the first time that the conference will be hosted in Qatar and in the Middle East and North Africa region.“ (Website ICSR) The theme of this year’s ICSR is „Human-Robot Collaboration: Sea, Air, Land, Space and Cyberspace“. According to the organizers, the theme emphasizes on all physical and cyber-physical domains where humans and robots collaborate. Papers can be submitted until August 21, 2023. Notifications will be made by September 18 of that year. More information via icsr23.qa.
How do social robots emerge from simple, soft shapes? As part of their final thesis in 2021 at the School of Business FHNW, 23-year-old students Nhi Tran Hoang Yen and Thang Hoang Vu from Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) have answered this question posed by their supervisor Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel. They have submitted eleven proposals for novel robots. The first is a pillow to which a tail has been added. Its name is Petanion, a portmanteau of „pet“ and „companion“. The tail could move like the tail of a cat or dog. In addition, the pillow could make certain sounds. It would be optimal if the tail movements were based on the behavior of the user. Thus, as desired, a social robot is created from a simple, soft form, in this case a pet substitute. Petanion is soft and cute and survives a long time. It can also be used if one has certain allergies or if there is not enough space or money in a household for a pet. Last but not least, the ecological balance is probably better – above all, the robot does not eat animals that come from factory farming. The inspiration may have been Qoobo, a pillow with a tail, designed to calm and to „heal the heart“. Panasonic also believes in robots that emerge from simple, soft forms. It promotes its new robot NICOBO as a „yowai robotto“, a “weak” robot that has hardly any functions or capabilities. The round, cute robot has two separate displays as eyes and a tail that it constantly moves. According to the company, it is aimed primarily at singles and the elderly. There could well be a high demand for it, even beyond the target groups.
Fig.: NICOBO in the arms of its owner (Photo: Panasonic)
Next to Robophilosophy, ICSR may be the most important conference on social robotics. The fourteenth edition took place in Florence at the end of 2022 and was dedicated to the health sector. „The 15th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2023) will bring together researchers and practitioners working on the interaction between humans and intelligent robots and on the integration of social robots into our society. ICSR 2023 will take place in Doha as a face-to-face conference on December 4-7, 2023. This will be the first time that the conference will be hosted in Qatar and in the Middle East and North Africa region.“ (Website ICSR) The theme of this year’s ICSR is „Human-Robot Collaboration: Sea, Air, Land, Space and Cyberspace“. According to the organizers, the theme emphasizes on all physical and cyber-physical domains where humans and robots collaborate. More information and CfP via icsr23.qa.
In January 2023, the proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022 were published, under the title „Social Robots in Social Institutions“. „This book presents the Proceedings of Robophilosophy 2022, the 5th event in the biennial Robophilosophy conference series, held in Helsinki, Finland, from 16 to 19 August 2022. The theme of this edition of the conference was Social Robots in Social Institutions, and it featured international multidisciplinary research from the humanities, social sciences, Human-Robot Interaction, and social robotics. The 63 papers, 41 workshop papers and 5 posters included in this book are divided into 4 sections: plenaries, sessions, workshops and posters, with the 41 papers in the ‚Sessions‘ section grouped into 13 subdivisions including elderly care, healthcare, law, education and art, as well as ethics and religion. These papers explore the anticipated conceptual and practical changes which will come about in the course of introducing social robotics into public and private institutions, such as public services, legal systems, social and healthcare services, or educational institutions.“ (Website IOS Press) The proceedings contain the paper „Robots in Policing“ by Oliver Bendel and the poster „Tamagotchi on our couch: Are social robots perceived as pets?“ by Katharina Kühne, Melinda A. Jeglinski-Mende, and Oliver Bendel. More information via www.iospress.com/catalog/books/social-robots-in-social-institutions.
On the morning of December 15, 2022, the session „Ethics, Gender & Trust in Social Robotics“ was held at ICSR 2022. Chairs were Giulia Perugia and Oliver Bendel. Dimitri Lacroix started the session with „I designed it, so I trust it: the influence of customization on psychological ownership and trust toward robots“. He showed that in line with the predictions of the authors, customization significantly increases psychological ownership and trust toward the robot. JeeLoo Liu gave a talk on the topic of „Human-in-the-Loop Ethical AI for Care Robots and Confucian Virtue Ethics“. She explicated how Confucian virtue ethics can respond to human expectations of what kind of virtuous care robots we want in our society. Jean Choi spoke about „Effects of Realistic Appearance and Consumer Gender on Pet Robot Adoption“. By adopting theories from marketing and consumer research, the authors hypothesized that pet robots with lifelike appearance would be preferred to pet robots with machinelike appearances. They also predicted that the positive effect of lifelike appearance would be reduced for female consumers. According to the researchers, the experimental results confirmed the formulated hypotheses. The last talk was „Ambivalent Stereotypes Towards Gendered Robots: The (Im)mutability of Bias Towards Female and Neutral Robots“ by Stefano Guidi. According to the team, the results disclosed that female robots activate paternalistic stereotypes, while male robots do not. Moreover, they reveal that the ambivalence of these stereotypes is stronger in men than in women. The analyses also showed that neutral robots activate paternalistic stereotypes in men and envious stereotypes in women. More information on the conference via www.icsr2022.it.
Fig.: JeeLoo Liu during her presentation (Photo: Marc Heimann)
Two of the most important conferences for social robotics are Robophilosophy and ICSR. After Robophilosophy, a biennial, was last held in Helsinki in August 2022, ICSR is now coming up in Florence (13 – 16 December 2022). „The 14th International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR 2022) brings together researchers and practitioners working on the interaction between humans and intelligent robots and on the integration of social robots into our society. … The theme of this year’s conference is Social Robots for Assisted Living and Healthcare, emphasising on the increasing importance of social robotics in human daily living and society.“ (Website ICSR) The committee sent out notifications by October 15, 2022. The paper „The CARE-MOMO Project“ by Oliver Bendel and Marc Heimann was accepted. This is a project that combines machine ethics and social robotics. The invention of the morality menu was transferred to a care robot for the first time. The care recipient can use sliders on the display to determine how he or she wants to be treated. This allows them to transfer their moral and social beliefs and ideas to the machine. The morality module (MOMO) is intended for the Lio assistance robot from F&P Robotics. The result will be presented at the end of October 2022 at the company headquarters in Glattbrugg near Zurich. More information on the conference via www.icsr2022.it.
Fig.: The conference will take place at the Chamber of Commerce (far left)
Der vierte und letzte Tag der Robophilosophy 2022 wurde eröffnet mit einem Vortrag von Catrin Misselhorn („Three Ethical Arguments against Killer Robots“). Sie stellte u.a. die Arbeit von Ronald C. Arkin vor und übte Kritik daran. Ein Workshop und drei Sessions schlossen sich an. In Session 18 („Robots in Elderly Care II“) sprach zunächst Stefanie Baisch („Elders‘ Expectations and Experiences of Having a Companion-Type Social Robot“, mit Thorsten Kolling), dann Rajitha Ramanayake („A Small Set of Ethical Challenges For Elder-care Robots“, mit Vivek Nallur). Session 19 („Robots at Work“) wurde von Valeria Martino („Trusting Workers: Information and Sociability in the Digital Age“), Rua Williams („All Robots Are Disabled“) sowie Anna Dobrosovestnova und Tim Reinboth („Mapping Ambiguities of Helping Commercial Delivery Robots“) bestritten. Tatsächlich sind sowohl autonome als auch ferngesteuerte Transportroboter immer wieder auf Hilfe angewiesen, etwa wenn sie feststecken. Nach dem Lunch bildete die Panel Discussion, geleitet von Robert Sparrow, den Abschluss. Der australische Philosoph fragte Johanna Seibt, was Philosophen besser machen könnten. Sie forderte diese auf, zu den Robotikkonferenzen zu gehen und von ihnen zu lernen. Umgekehrt ermahnte sie die Robotiker, die Leistung der Philosophen zu achten. Zahlreiche weitere Statements und Kommentare folgten. Die Robophilosophy hat sich erneut als führende Veranstaltung für Soziale Robotik behauptet. Weitere Informationen zur Konferenz über cas.au.dk/en/robophilosophy/conferences/rpc2022.
Abb.: Robert Sparrow, Johanna Seibt, Catrin Misselhorn und Paula Sweeney
Der Nachmittag des dritten Tags der Robophilosophy 2022 startete mit drei Sessions und einem Workshop. Session 17 („Social Norms and Roles II“) wurde bestritten von Jaime Banks („Breaking the Typecast? Moral Status and Trust in Robotic Moral Patients“, mit Kevin Koban und Brad Haggadone), Tom Coggins („Called Back on Stage: Dramaturgic Analysis, Domestic Social Robots, and Privacy“) sowie Keren Mazuz („Folding and Unfolding Human-Humanoid Robot Interactions: Through an Anthropological Analysis of Play“, mit Ryuji Yamazaki). Keren Mazuz ging auf den Telenoid ein, der aus der Forschung von Hiroshi Ishiguro bekannt ist (und der ein Vorgänger und Verwandter von Hugvie ist). Nach der Kaffeepause hielt Rachid Alami die unterhaltsame und reichhaltige Keynote „Decisional issues for Human-Robot Joint Action“. Er zeigte einen Ausschnitt aus dem Film „Modern Times“ (1936) von und mit Charlie Chaplin mit einem Fütterroboter, erwähnte Systeme und Konzepte wie BDI Systems, wobei die Abkürzung für „beliefs“, „desires“ und „intentions“ steht, und die Human-Robot Joint Action. Danach fuhr man mit dem Schiff zum Dinner auf das Suomenlinna Fortress Island.
Xiaomi – a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics – introduced CyberOne in August 2022. It is a humanoid social robot. It has a head, but no face, and for that reason alone it looks creepy. The company writes on its website: „As the newest member of Xiaomi’s Cyber series, joining last year’s quadruped robot Cyberdog, CyberOne is fitted with advanced arms and legs, supports bipedal-motion posture balancing, and reaches a peak torque of up to 300Nm. Also demonstrated was the ability to detect human emotion, advanced vision capabilities, and functionality allowing it to create three-dimensional virtual reconstructions of the real world, alongside a host of other advanced technologies.“ (Xiaomi, August 11, 2022) Via www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJhneBJIfOk you can watch a video with CyberOne. Overall, the demonstration seems unconvincing. The missing face has already been mentioned. The robot makes sounds that are more appropriate for a small toy and entertainment robot. In addition, it moves stiffly and slowly. You can say that the list of uncanny robots has been expanded with CyberOne. Maybe the company can improve the prototype and make it more compelling.
Robophilosophy 2022 is the fifth event in the biennial Robophilosophy Conference Series. It „will explore the societal significance of social robots for the future of social institutions with its usual broad scope, embracing both theoretical and practical angles“ (CfP Robophilosophy). It „is an invitation to philosophers and other SSH researchers, as well as researchers in social robotics and HRI, to investigate from interdisciplinarily informed perspectives whether and how social robotics as an interdisciplinary endeavour can contribute to the ability of our institutions to perform their functions in society“ (CfP Robophilosophy). Social institutions include retirement and nursing homes, strip clubs and brothels, monasteries and seminaries, and police departments. As announced by the organizers on April 15, Oliver Bendel (School of Business FHNW) will have the opportunity to present his paper entitled „Robots in Policing“ at the conference. It is about how service robots and social robots are changing policing as „social work“. In addition, a poster by Katharina Kühne and Melinda Mende (University of Potsdam) as well als Oliver Bendel entitled „Tamagotchi on our couch: Are social robots perceived as pets?“ was accepted.
There are more and more robots being used in health care. Most of them are prototypes, some – like Lio and P-CARE from F&P Robotics – are products that are manufactured in small series. Machine ethics researches and creates moral machines. These are often guided by certain values or meta-rules, they follow predetermined rules, or they learn from situations and adapt their behavior. Michael Anderson and Susan L. Anderson presented their value-driven eldercare robot at the 2019 Berlin Colloquium by invitation of Oliver Bendel. The CARE-MOMO („MOMO“ stands for „morality module“) is a morality module for a robot in the manner of Lio. The idea is that the robot acquires clearly delimited moral abilities in addition to its usual abilities. The focus is to have it perform an act or speech act with high reliability based on a moral assumption or reasoning, with a clearly identifiable benefit to the caregiver or the care recipient. The initiators want to address a common problem in the nursing and care field. Marc Heimann could be recruited for the project at the School of Business FHNW. The supervisor is Oliver Bendel, who has been working with robots in the healthcare sector for ten years and has built numerous moral machines together with his teams.
Fig.: Another robot of the company (Photo: F&P Robotics)
Robophilosophy 2022 is the fifth event in the biennial Robophilosophy Conference Series. The first call for papers (CfP) was published in November 2021, the second at the end of 2021, and the final on February 25, 2022. The extended deadline for submissions of extended abstracts and full papers is March 10, 2022. The event „will explore the societal significance of social robots for the future of social institutions with its usual broad scope, embracing both theoretical and practical angles“ (CfP Robophilosophy). It „is an invitation to philosophers and other SSH researchers, as well as researchers in social robotics and HRI, to investigate from interdisciplinarily informed perspectives whether and how social robotics as an interdisciplinary endeavour can contribute to the ability of our institutions to perform their functions in society“ (CfP Robophilosophy). Topics of interest are robots and social institutions in general, robots in law and policing, robots in healthcare, and robots and social justice, amongst others. The conference will be held at the University of Helsinki in Finland from August 16-19, 2022. More information via www.rp2022.org.
