Panel Discussion: Engagement, Trust and Intimacy: Are these the Essential Elements for a Successful Interaction between a Human and a Robot?

As the capability of robots increases, and interactions between humans and machines become more complex, it is important for researchers to consider the potential for an emotional connection to be established between a human and a machine. The panel will discuss areas such as the development of engagement, trust and intimacy during human interaction with embodied robotic characters, and assigning ‘personalities’ and ‘emotional states’ to robotic characters that interact with people in public spaces. It is intended that the panel will focus specifically on questions such as • What is trust, and can you share it with a machine? • What is intimacy, and can you share it with a machine? • How do theories of behavior from different perspectives assist in understanding our complex relationships with robotic ‘others’? One part of our collaborative work involves interactive robotics in a media arts environment. Fish-Bird Circle B— Movement C (figure 1) is an autokinetic artwork that aims to investigate the dialogical possibilities that exist between autokinetic objects (two robots disguised as wheelchairs) that have the ability to communicate with each other and with their audience through several modalities. The wheelchairs impersonate two characters (Fish and Bird) who fall in love but cannot be together due to ‘technical’ difficulties. In their shared isolation, Fish and Bird communicate intimately with one another via movement and text. Assisted by integrated printers, the wheelchairs write intimate letters to each other. Spectators entering the installation space disturb the intimacy of the two objects, yet create the strong potential (or need) for other dialogues to exist. The spectator can see the traces of their previous conversation on the letters dropped to the floor, and may become aware of the disturbance that s/he has caused. Dialogue occurs kinetically through the wheelchairs’ ‘perception’ of the body language of the audience, and through the audience’s reaction to the ‘body language’ of the chairs. A common initial reaction to the unexpected disturbance would be for Fish and Bird to converse about trivial subjects, like the weather... Through emerging dialogue, the wheelchairs may become more ‘comfortable’ with their observers, and start to reveal intimacies on the floor again.