Social Robots and the Production of Space: Exploring the Socio-Spatial Dimensions of Human-Robot Interaction

该项目调查受控实验室环境之外的人与机器人的长期交互，以更好地了解机器人的引入和社会意识行为的发展如何改变日常生活的空间，包括空间是如何规划和管理、使用和体验的。这项研究聚焦于两个博物馆的导游机器人，将对社交机器人融入新空间时出现的挑战和机遇产生细致入微的见解，以更好地为未来的设计、规划和决策提供信息。它将来自人文地理学、机器人学和艺术学的研究人员聚集在一起，超越学科界限思考人类-机器人共存、社会性和协作的可能未来。该项目的更广泛影响将包括增加两个伙伴博物馆的可及性和参与度，为本科生和研究生提供跨学科研究机会，作为免费教育资源提供关于机器人技术现状的一系列短片，以及反映人与机器人互动的公共艺术展。这个项目将引起科学技术研究、人类机器人互动(HRI)和人文地理学的学者以及博物馆管理人员、教育工作者和公众的兴趣。这个跨学科的项目将科学技术研究、人类机器人互动(HRI)和人文地理学结合在一起，探索通过新兴的HRI形式创造社会空间。该项目广泛地询问：社交机器人的部署如何影响社交空间的生产--包括特定空间的功能、意义、实践和体验？该项目基于对艺术博物馆和地球科学博物馆中导游机器人的开发和部署的长期人种学观察。一位社交机器人专家将开发一种社交感知导航系统，为机器人的社会空间行为增添细微差别。一位数字艺术家将使用机器人自己的传感器数据和其他形式的运动捕捉，制作博物馆内发生的互动的数字表示。一名人类地理学家将对博物馆参观者和工作人员进行采访，并对导游机器人和开发导航系统的机器人专家进行民族志观察。他们将对机器人在博物馆组织中的角色、博物馆工作人员和参观者的日常做法以及博物馆空间的不同体验进行民族志分析。该项目的学术价值包括在科学和技术研究、机器人学和人文地理学的交叉点上作出的贡献，审查人种学研究对人权倡议的价值，开发具有社会意识的导航系统，社会空间分析对理解新兴机器人技术的价值，以及机器人在不断发展的数字地理中的作用。该项目由SBE的科学和技术研究计划和EHR的推进非正式STEM学习(AISL)计划联合资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project investigates long-term human-robot interaction outside of controlled laboratory settings to better understand how the introduction of robots and the development of socially-aware behaviors work to transform the spaces of everyday life, including how spaces are planned and managed, used, and experienced. Focusing on tour-guiding robots in two museums, the research will produce nuanced insights into the challenges and opportunities that arise as social robots are integrated into new spaces to better inform future design, planning, and decision-making. It brings together researchers from human geography, robotics, and art to think beyond disciplinary boundaries about the possible futures of human-robot co-existence, sociality, and collaboration. Broader impacts of the project will include increased accessibility and engagement at two partner museums, interdisciplinary research opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students, a short video series about the current state of robotic technology to be offered as a free educational resource, and public art exhibitions reflecting on human-robot interactions. This project will be of interest to scholars of Science and Technology Studies, Human Robotics Interaction (HRI), and human geography as well as museum administrators, educators and the general public.This interdisciplinary project brings together Science and Technology Studies, Human Robotics Interaction (HRI), and human geography to explore the production of social space through emerging forms of HRI. The project broadly asks: How does the deployment of social robots influence the production of social space—including the functions, meanings, practices, and experiences of particular spaces? The project is based on long-term ethnographic observation of the development and deployment of tour-guiding robots in an art museum and an earth science museum. A social roboticist will develop a socially-aware navigation system to add nuance to the robots’ socio-spatial behavior. A digital artist will produce digital representations of the interactions that take place in the museum, using the robot’s own sensor data and other forms of motion capture. A human geographer will conduct interviews with museum visitors and staff as well as ethnographic observation of the tour-guiding robots and of the roboticists as they develop the navigation system. They will produce an ethnographic analysis of the robots’ roles in the organization of the museums, everyday practices of museum staff and visitors, and the differential experiences of the museum space. The intellectual merits of the project consist of contributions at the intersections of STS, robotics, and human geography examining the value of ethnographic research for HRI, the development of socially-aware navigation systems, the value of a socio-spatial analytic for understanding emerging forms of robotics, and the role of robots within evolving digital geographies. This project is jointly funded by the Science and Technology Studies program in SBE and Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program in EHR.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.