1
The workshops began with examples of robots that were already familiar or existing. In some, we heard from expert roboticists about the different kinds of public space robots in Australia and in Japan. In others, participants discussed images they brought of public space robots.
What would it take for people to be actually really comfortable with the concept of robots in public space?
Design Rationale
Asking people to tell us what they already knew about robots started to bring their feelings, thoughts and assumptions about these technologies to the surface. Hearing from experts primed them to engage with the topic. This step provided a starting point for later speculation.
2
We then invited participants to access our own AR robots. Using their smartphones, people went into nearby public spaces, placed their chosen AR robot, and took photos to share with the group. The AR robot forms were all based on already-existing technologies in use somewhere in the world.
I think that was sort of playing with this idea of trying to build more of a character….less about it being a robot for a purpose [and] more about trying to create a personality around the robot..
Design Rationale
This step gave people a chance to speculate with existing robot forms by playing with their placement, function and scale using AR in familiar sites. People decide where the robot might be located, what it might be doing, and what size ‘felt best’ for that site. Photographing the AR models in a specific place meant participants considered why they had chosen a particular robot. The group discussion with everyone’s images revealed more thoughts and feelings about robots and generated ideas for the next steps.
3
Next, people chose a paper printout of the robot they played with in AR. They were also presented with a buffet of decidedly non-robotic materials and invited to use these materials to redesign their robot and create one that enhanced public space.
So the robot has basically two roles. During the day it helps schoolkids cross the road… and during the night it's a comedian. It analyses all the best jokes in the world, and creates jokes of its own.
Design Rationale
Here, our prototypes moved from the digital to the material realm. Our choice of playful materials - fake fur, pom poms, feathers and coloured paper - purposefully asked people to play with the unfamiliar. We wanted to enable new visions of robots: what they might be doing and how we might interact with them, rather than typical technical or rational versions. Making the work messy encouraged more creative storytelling, which we discussed and video recorded with participants.
4
Returning to public space, people photographed their new robot models in the same settings where they had placed their AR counterparts earlier.
For me this wasn't about creating a robot that cuts labour costs, or improves productivity, this is about seeking people who just need someone to talk to about their feelings of uncertainty around the future. And what better to do that than a fuzzy little fortune telling oracle.
Design Rationale
The aim was to reflect on what a different form of robot might look like, and what it might feel like to encounter it in public space. Asking people to photograph their designs in situ also took them out of the workshop room and into the setting where their robot’s story would unfold - showing how the meanings of our technologies were made as much by their contexts as their technical affordances.
5
Even if they did do something functional, the selling point was something maybe humorous, something interactive, something memorable.
Design Rationale
In steps 3 and 5, we conducted video ethnography that followed along with people in their making and reflection, asking them to describe their decision as they went. This helped us understand people’s assumptions, priorities and values, and how these were expressed in their prototypes.
