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 National Science
Foundation Award #0522630 |
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Dissertation Research: Imagining Robotics: Cultural and cognitive perspectives on the scientific practice of social robot design |
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| Investigator(s): |
Linnda Caporael (PI)
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| Sponsor: |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY 12180 5182766000
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| Start Date/Expiration Date |
2005-08-15 to 2006-02-28 (amended 2005-08-12) |
| Awarded Amount to Date: |
$12,000 |
| Abstract: Project summary
NSF dissertation improvement funds will be used to support a study of social robotics research: scientific practice of designing and constructing machines able to engage in social interaction with humans. Through interviews, participant observation, and on-site document collection the study aims to answer the question: How is SR design, as a techno-scientific practice, socially, culturally and cognitively situated, constituted and imagined? An answer will be derived from the following sub-questions: 1) How are different socio-cultural and cognitive processes reflected in the practice of SR design in the U.S. and Japan? 2) How are imaginaries formed, and how do they mediate the practice of SR design? 3) How is the practice of SR in the lab translated into a universal science in the transnational domain? The concept of "the imaginary" used here refers to shared world-views that enable groups and their members to function in performing common tasks. Participant observation (March-October 2005) will be performed at the Social Robots Project located at the CMU Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh, U.S.A. and the PARO Project at the AIST Intelligent Systems Research Institute in Tsukuba, Japan. The fieldwork methods that will be used include shadowing, interviewing, participant observation, photographing and tape-recording interactions, and the collection of ephemera relevant to the labs. Members of other labs in the U.S and Japan will also be interviewed. Additional information on SR research has been gathered through secondary research conference and public exhibition attendance, and popular culture materials (films, novels).
Intellectual merit. This project will contribute to science and technology studies by
producing original empirical material and theoretical perspectives on the dynamics of the field of SR .It is inspired by previous STS work in lab studies, but goes beyond their usual scope by looking at the cognitive aspects of science as practiced within various group structures and utilizing a multi-sited case study approach across two culturally distinctive lab settings. The project also seeks to develop a conceptually and empirically enriched concept of the imaginary as it applies to culturally situated techno-scientific practice, invoking imagination, vision and a socially constructed shared worldview as part of the process of science. A further contribution will be the use of the core configurations framework to emphasize the significance of interaction and its social structure, rather than roles, in the social and cognitive behavior of humans and machines. Finally, the project aims to develop the conception of participant observation and socio-cultural analysis by actively creating communication and interaction between the social scientist as participant observer with roboticists, and using the results of the study to create an alternative design imaginary for socially and culturally situated SR design.
Broader impacts. The study will have a broad impact through the circulation of results
among social roboticists and social scientists as the study progresses. It will instigate and encourage interdisciplinary dialogue and research by bringing out themes in SR that can be approached from multiple disciplinary perspectives. The study also aims to make roboticists more aware of how sociality is designed into social robots, and will provide a framework in which social scientists and roboticists can work together to create reflexive social robot designs, taking into account the social impacts and cultural contexts of their applications. Feedback from social roboticists will enable validation and refinement of findings while also influencing their work. The project also encourages the use of SR in education as a tool for developing interdisciplinary understanding among students and instructors from a variety of technical and social fields. |
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| NSF Org: |
SES - Division of Social and Economic Sciences |
| Award Number: |
0522630 |
| Award Instrument: |
Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Ronald Rainger
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences
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| NSF Program(s): |
GLOBAL SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS, Hist & Philosophy of SET |
| Field Application(s): |
Human Subjects |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM, 9179
EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC PROGRAM, 5978
JAPAN, 5921 |
| Program Element Code(s): |
7316
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES, 1353 |
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