ICSR 2020 Workshop: Metaphors for Human-Robot Interactions
Workshop at ICSR 2020 | November 14 - 16, 2020 | Online
Robots can be a metaphor of perfection. Influenced by pop-culture, we assume they never get tired, are always ready to work, and do not make mistakes. However, when we look around us and observe what existing, real-world robots can actually do we are faced with a different reality as robots do fail, they are not perfect, and they eventually make mistakes.
Until now, most approaches in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) were centered around a single metaphor, striving towards a human-like, utilitarian, can-do-it-all robot. While this strategy has advantages, it also places unrealistic expectations for robots, which frequently result in disappointment when interacting with them. In this workshop, we call for exploring alternative designs for social robots to cultivate new perspectives on robots, outside the existing norms. Alternative metaphors have been previously successful in breaking through fixation and bringing novel design and products. Furthermore, metaphors can serve as a vessel to wider societal imaginaries of technology and progress.
This is the 1st Edition of the “Metaphors for Human-Robot Interactions” Workshop, held virtually and in conjunction with ICSR 2020. The aim of this half-day workshop is to use metaphors to reinvent how robots can interact with humans, re-imagine alternative physical shapes for robots, and open up a conversation about the role robots might have in societies. Our goal is to create a “Collection of Metaphors” that provides a reference for alternative designs and interactions between humans and robots. The intended audience for this workshop are designers, artists, writers, film-makers, architects, philosophers, psychologists, computer scientists and engineers, that are interested in speculating about new imaginaries for social robots.
Call for Contributions
Audience
This workshop encourages designers, artists, writers, film-makers, architects, philosophers, psychologists, computer scientists and engineers, to speculate on alternative metaphors for human-robot interactions. We aim to create a space for discussing different perspectives on how to design social robots that goes beyond the current, singular notion of social robots.
Deadlines
Submission deadline: 16 October 2020
Notification of acceptance: 30 October 2020
Camera-ready version: 6 November 2020
Workshop date: 14 November 2020 (half-day workshop)
This workshop will be held in conjunction with ICSR 2020 in a virtual format with accessible registration costs.
Contributions
Authors are invited to submit a description a new approach to Human-Robot Interaction through a Metaphor. Authors can choose one of the two submision formats: (1) 2-page position paper using latex or word templates; (2) visual work, including films, drawings/sketches, poems, stories, pictorials, prototypes, hand-made models, or other creative pieces that were created by the authors. We welcome out of the box ideas. Submission materials should be emailed to robotmetaphors@gmail.com and need to be accompained by a short bio and the cv of the authors.
Topics (not limited to)
Human-robot interaction and robotics
Design research
Aesthetic and landscape studies
Metaphors research, including dystrophic and utopic futurizing
Speculative, critical, and surreal design studies
Experimentation across disciplines such as music and sound, psychology, design, architecture, illustration, and additional audio-visual arts
This is a half-day workshop and will be held in conjunction with ICSR 2020 in a virtual format with accessible registration costs.
For inquiries, robotmetaphors at gmail dot com
