As technology advances, designers are taking a closer look at future human interaction with robots. Will robots be subservient to us, dependent, or equal? Will they take care of us or will we take care of them? Dunne & Raby’s robots are individuals with their own distinct personalities and quirks, whose behaviors emerge over time. Robot 1 is very independent. It avoids electromagnetic fields because they might cause it to malfunction. Robot 2 is very nervous. As soon as someone enters a room, it turns to analyze them with its many eyes, and it becomes extremely agitated if the person gets too close. Robot 3 is a sentinel. It demands that the user stare into its eyes for a long time to be recognized by retinal scanning. Robot 4 is very needy and depends on its owner to move it about. It is extremely intelligent and has evolved its own language, although traces of human speech remain in its voice.
Gallery label from This Is for Everyone: Design Experiments for the Common Good, February 14, 2015–January 31, 2016.
