Technological Fantasies of Nao: remarks about alterity relations

TY - JOUR

T1 - Technological Fantasies of Nao

T2 - remarks about alterity relations

AU - Hasse Jørgensen, Stina

AU - Tafdrup, Oliver Alexander

PY - 2017/2/2

Y1 - 2017/2/2

N2 - This article will through a ‘what-if’ scenario involving the humanoid robot, Nao, as a museum guide, discuss the potential benefits of theorizing social robots through a perspective grounded in critical design and postphenomenology. Within Science and Technology-studies (STS) postphenomenology has been the ‘go-to’ theory when discussing the philosophical aspects of human-technology relations. Postphenomenology directly addresses how humans on a phenomenological level relate to robots through an ‘alterity-relation’ that establishes the robot as a ‘quasi-other’. A methodological discussion of how to conductempirical postphenomenological research into robotics, has, however, not been thoroughly unfolded, although the question of a general postphenomenological methodology has been touched upon. This article provides a contribution to the debate on how to enquire into human-robot relations.In this article we will argue that critical design provides a methodological framework compliant with postphenomenological mode of analysis. Furthermore we will argue that our empirical data is capable of eliciting aspects of how ideological shaped technological fantasies function to sustain the experience of Nao as a ‘quasi-other’, even though Nao fails to function properly.

AB - This article will through a ‘what-if’ scenario involving the humanoid robot, Nao, as a museum guide, discuss the potential benefits of theorizing social robots through a perspective grounded in critical design and postphenomenology. Within Science and Technology-studies (STS) postphenomenology has been the ‘go-to’ theory when discussing the philosophical aspects of human-technology relations. Postphenomenology directly addresses how humans on a phenomenological level relate to robots through an ‘alterity-relation’ that establishes the robot as a ‘quasi-other’. A methodological discussion of how to conductempirical postphenomenological research into robotics, has, however, not been thoroughly unfolded, although the question of a general postphenomenological methodology has been touched upon. This article provides a contribution to the debate on how to enquire into human-robot relations.In this article we will argue that critical design provides a methodological framework compliant with postphenomenological mode of analysis. Furthermore we will argue that our empirical data is capable of eliciting aspects of how ideological shaped technological fantasies function to sustain the experience of Nao as a ‘quasi-other’, even though Nao fails to function properly.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Social robots

KW - Nao

KW - Critical Design

KW - Postphenomenology

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1444-3775

SP - 88

EP - 103

JO - Transformations

JF - Transformations

IS - 29

M1 - 6

ER -