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Abstract
As the boundary between science/technology and society has gradually become permeable, and as science and technology have become subject to societal interrogation, more and more interdisciplinary collaboration has emerged as a way to not only encourage innovation but also engage the public. Under the guise of interdisciplinarity, however, heterogeneous modes of collaboration exist, in which the roles of the public are differently conceptualized. Using Andrew Barry and Georgina Born's 2013 framework for analyzing interdisciplinarity, including that of science and art, this article examines two instances of the interdisciplinary collaboration between robotics and theater in Japan and Taiwan. In particular, it analyzes how the perceived agency of robot actors is constructed onstage in these two cases. On the technological level, anthropomorphic, humanoid robots are used to construct the agency of robot actors in both cases. On the theatrical level, a comparison shows divergences in the role that theater plays and the potential role of the public. In contrast to the Taiwan case, for the Japan case a more active role of the public is conceptualized involving their use of social knowledge in judging the constructed agency of robot actors and their contribution to knowledge of human-robot interaction. Theater is used in both cases to demonstrate technology for the public. However, a comparison of the two cases demonstrates that, beyond that purpose, in which the public assumes a passive role, the interdisciplinary collaboration between two seemingly distant disciplines—robotics and theater, in this case—has the potential to foster knowledge production in which the public can assume an active role.
Acknowledgment
I would like to thank Dr. Ruey-Lin Chen, two anonymous reviewers, and editors of EASTS for their constructive comments on previous versions of this article. My thanks also go to Interchange Association, Japan, and the Sumitomo Foundation for funding part of this research.
Notes
1 Social robots are those robots claimed to convey and “read” social cues according to which they interact with humans.
2 International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2012 Workshop, “Call for Papers,” http://www.robotics-and-performing-arts.sssup.it/cfp.html (accessed 9 July 2014), and “Overview,” http://www.robotics-and-performing-arts.sssup.it (accessed 9 July 2014), emphasis added.
3 Section 1 explains how roboticists conceptualize and practice individualistic, “more traditional,” human-robot interaction.
4 Animism has different meanings and connotations in anthropology of religion and in psychology. In the former, it is often associated with “primitive” thinking, and this association has been criticized as Eurocentric; in the latter, it is seen as an inclination of children, which will diminish when they grow up. However, scholars also argue that it is relatively universal in adult humans because animism has an evolutionary advantage (CitationGuthrie 1993). As for anthropomorphism, it is also held to be relatively universal in humans, but variations among people do exist (CitationWaytz, Cacioppo, and Epley 2010). Further debates of the two concepts are beyond the scope of this article.
5 From the perspective of gender, it is clear that Japanese roboticists, Ishiguro in particular, take gender stereotypes as useful in facilitating human-robot interaction (CitationRobertson 2010), as can be shown from the fact that Ishiguro's first android built in adult size was female in appearance. However, as his team realized, the impression androids give to people can easily be changed by changing their eye contours, hairstyles, and dress, so Ishiguro and colleagues have conducted various experiments using androids with different looks. In these experiments, gender is operationalized as a variable. For example, they use an android or a geminoid (see text) as a dummy nurse sitting alongside a medical doctor to test whether it eases patients’ tension. Sometimes the android/geminoid is male in disguise. Considering that male nurses are rare in Japan (about 7 percent of all the nurses), although these roboticists may take a stereotypical view of gendered appearance, it can be argued that they take a relatively agnostic view toward gendered roles in these experiments.
6 For example, from social interaction and phenomenological perspectives, critics argue that ToM assumes a gulf between an individualized self and others that can be bridged only by theoretical means—inference, for example (CitationLeudar and Costall 2009; CitationZlatev et al. 2008).
7 Oriza Hirata, interview by the author, 22 August 2012, Tokyo.
8 Hirata's belief that he might justify his “contemporary colloquial theater theory” through the use of robot actors is contested by theater commentator Hiroko Yamaguchi. She argues that it is possible for the audience to be moved by anything onstage, be it dogs or inanimate objects like leaves or puppets, and the audience's attachment to these objects does not relate to whether there are minds within them (CitationKawai and Yamaguchi 2010: 99). While I concur with her on this point, this article is concerned with, and the problem of robot theater lies exactly in, how such an effect is produced onstage by using robots comparable to humans in size.
9 Jerry Lin, interview by the author, 14 May 2013, Taipei.
10 Michael Chien, interview by the author, 10 December 2013, Taipei.
11 This can be compared to a similar performance of “autoportrait” drawn by a robot arm designed by several German artists who formed the group Robolab and developed several robot performances by using industrial robots. What is special about autoportrait is that, every time a portrait of a member from the audience is done, the performing robot arm then rubs the portrait off, without exception. To some audience members, this steadfast act of erasing one's own work seems to have philosophical overtones and gives the impression that the robot arm has a certain “personality” trait that serves to construct its perceived agency.
12 With a size a little bigger, and a ratio of head to body size larger than those of Wakamaru, Robovie R3 also moves on wheels. Besides acting in Three Sisters, Android Version, beginning in 2013, Robovie R3, with its longer battery life, has replaced Wakamaru for the play I, Worker.
13 Lin interview.
14 Hiroshi Ishiguro, interview by the author, 5 July 2012, Osaka.
15 Chien interview.
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid.
18 Aftertalk also serves a marketing function, as directors in these discussion sessions often appeal to the audience to help promote the performance to others. Sometimes in Hirata's aftertalks, the audience airs views on theater/robots very different from, or even oppositional to, those of Hirata or/and Ishiguro.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Tzung-De Lin
Tzung-De Lin received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh and is an assistant professor of general education with a joint appointment in sociology at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. His current research interests include robotics and large technological systems.