intervalla: volume 1, 2013

Social Robots and Emotion: Transcending the Boundary Between Humans and ICTs

Editors: Satomi Sugiyama & Jane Vincent 

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Although the notion of social robots often evokes the idea of humanoid social robots, past research suggests that it can be conceived of as a concept that implies information and communication technologies (ICTs) turning into a human-like entity as well as humans turning into ICTs. Once one accepts that the commonly used ICTs such as mobile phones can be conceived of as social robots, and also, such ICTs are potentially turning humans into social robots, one realizes that it is time to give significant scientific efforts to examine the impact of social robots including the ambivalent relationship between ICTs and the human body. In this endeavor, the role of emotion is an essential consideration. For example, how do people experience emotions interacting with social robots, broadly defined, in everyday life? How do technologized humans and anthropomorphed technologies create, diffuse and store emotions? This inauguration volume presents a peer-reviewed selection of papers discussed during a two-day workshop convened in the summer of 2011 at Franklin College Switzerland supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Green Leaves Fund and Franklin College Switzerland. The compilation of these papers seeks to begin developing an understanding of the very notion of social robots: transcending the boundary between humans and ICTs.

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