Human Meets Robot

A TALK SERIES ON SOCIAL ROBOTICS

September 21 – November 2, 2017

With its special affinity for robots rooted in centuries-old history and tradition, Japan is recognised as the world’s most robotised country. Nowhere are social robots more prevalent, where both humanoid and non-humanoid robots are becoming increasingly commonplace in factories, shopping malls, retail stores, hotel receptions and even homes.

Now undergoing a government-led ‘robot revolution’, Japan is on a quest to further integrate artificial intelligence, or AI, into areas including manufacturing, supply chains, construction and healthcare to address growing concerns for its ageing population and shrinking workforce.

How might a deeper understanding of Japanese culture afford us more positive human-robot interactions? How can a consideration of Japanese ethics, or rinri, prepare us to harmoniously coexist with our AI counterparts? How are Japanese robotics contributing to the production of art and culture? Join us for a journey into social robotics, featuring insights from the arts, engineering, media design and sociology, to discover how these Japanese technologies are set to transform our future, and the areas in which we should tread with caution.

Images: Skeleton of Osaka University’s Ishiguro Lab (photo by Justine Emard); robot-partner.com’s Tomomi Ota with Pepper (photo by Pierre-Olivier); video stills from the work “Radical Hospitality” and “Pathetic Fallacy” (header image), part of Actroid Series I (2014) by Dr Elena Knox, featuring Geminoid-F of Ishiguro Lab.

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