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New home for “Send in the Robots”

Slideshare have decided to remove the slidecast functionality from their service, so I have been looking for a new home for my talk about human-robot teams, and sending robots into dangerous situations. I think I’ve found an alternative now, but I just realised that sharing the link on Twitter doesn’t work, since the site wants people to sign up (or sign in) in order to view the presentation. Here is an embedded version, which I hope anyone will be able to view:

This isn’t one of my best talks, which is irritating given that it’s the one I have recorded and been able to share in this way, but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do something similar in the future with other presentations.

2 Comments

  1. Hi Eleanor
    I thoroughly enjoyed your video on “Send in the Robots”. The connections between human and robot in the military was fascinating, in particular the treatment of the robot as if it were flesh and blood – never leaving a fallen comrade behind. I definitely agree that trust is a necessary requirement for developing positive human-robot relations, which begs the question whether building a “terminator” looking one helps to foster trust right from the beginning or leads to some scepticism 🙂 .
    In some ways, I can’t help but think that human-being empathy for robots is a gradual realisation from life with inanimate objects. If I think of a fishing rod for instance, they all do the same job – catching fish, yet in my collection I have my favourite rod – and should it be damaged beyond repair I would be upset because the relationship that I have developed between that rod is no more.
    With Robots, autonomous and non-autonomous it’s adding that further dimension because “life” is breathed into them. My friends have a robot vacuum that they name “Miguel”. In many respects it is like a member of the family. My friends talk about it moving around the bottom of their feet (much like a pet), and how they converse with it when they exit or enter their home, praising it for a job well-done or telling it off like a naughty child :).
    Thanks for sharing the video as I find human-robot interactions fascinating. I look forward to seeing and reading some more from you.
    Best Regards
    Alan

    • Thank you, Alan. I’m glad you enjoyed the video. 🙂
      One of the reasons I’m so interested in this area is precisely because of the way in which humans develop relationships with even inanimate objects (such as your favourite fishing rod). That’s why I’d like to see more examples of non-humanoid robots created to interact and work with humans. There are few examples on the blog, such as AUR, the robotic lighting assistant, and also some examples from art installations, which tend to be less practical but certainly draw people in to unfamiliar forms of interaction.
      Rgds,
      Eleanor

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