How do you give form to sentimental machines?
An Affective Futures Round Table
Free event, register via Eventbrite here
This round table session discusses the creation of embodying affect and emotion through interactive materiality, including interactive objects, wearable artefacts and robotics. We invite researchers and practioners from the Royal College of Art, designers and engineers from Human-robot interaction and Human-computer interaction, whose work are all related to creating affective material or robotics, for a round table discussion. We discuss the anticipation and challenges of embodying affective attributes through tangible means and explore crosscurrents of different disciplines. We also invite interested audiences to join us and share your questions and commentary on this topic. For registration please send email to affectivefutures@gmail.com or register via Eventbrite here
Panelists:
Chang Gao
PhD candidate, Royal College of Art, School of Arts and Humanities
http://www.gaochangart.net/
Chang Gao is a visual artist using multiple media in her practice production, like ECG heart-rate interactive sculpture, hologram installation, AR interface, film and photographic language. As a public art researcher, her works overlapped with the field of psychology, aiming to trigger the audience's sensous desire and bodily responses. By exploring the relations between the very personal matter of the human body and the public space, her artwork serves as an alternative method to address the pressing cultural issues in Chinese public space.
Dr. Ben Robins
Roboticist, Adaptive Systems Research Group, University of Hertfordshire UK
https://drbenrobins.com/
Dr. Ben Robins is a Senior Research Fellow in the school of Physics Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Ben’s qualifications and many years of work experience lie in two disciplines: Computer Science and Dance Movement Therapy. Ben completed his PhD research degree in the school of Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire, focusing on assistive technology for children with autism, bringing together his expertise and experience in these two disciplines.
Ben’s research, which started in 2002, investigates the potential use of robots as therapeutic or educational tools, encouraging basic communication and social interaction skills in children with autism. His current work is further investigating robot-assisted therapy and continues the development of the KASPAR robot as a therapeutic and educational tool. This includes running several long term studies with KASPAR and children with autism in families’ homes and in collaboration with schools and medical centres internationally.
Soomi Park
http://soomipark.com
Soomi Park is a London-based designer from Seoul, South Korea. She is currently a lecturer in the Department of Design at Goldsmiths University of London. Her research crosses the boundaries between design, fiction and cognitive psychology. Through the lens of her research background, her work discusses the complex relationship between emerging technologies and human desires. Her practice encompasses a wide range of mediums, including interactive installations, speculative objects, film, photography, performance, and wearables. She holds MA in Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art in London and currently pursuing her PhD at the Media, Art and Technology programme of the Queen Mary University of London.
Dr. Maitreyee Wairagkar
Postdoc researcher on affective robotics, Imperial College London
https://www.linkedin.com/in/maitreyeewairagkar/?originalSubdomain=uk
Maitreyee is a postdoc researcher in artificial intelligence, social robotics, brain-computer interface, and assistive technology at Imperial College London. Her research is focused on breaking barriers between humans and technology by developing intuitive modes of interaction with technology using brain signals, gestures, and natural language. She is developing interactive affective social robots capable of identifying emotions of users and responding by displaying appropriate expressions using machine learning for speech analysis, natural language processing and detecting facial expressions. These social robots will be used to support people with dementia by interactively monitoring their health and wellbeing and assisting them in activities of daily living. She has also developed brain-computer interfaces to control robotic rehabilitation devices and brain-robot interface to evaluate human-robot interaction. Maitreyee has completed her PhD and MEng in Artificial Intelligence and Cybernetics from the University of Reading.
Dr. Rain Ashford
https://rainycatz.wordpress.com/about/
Rain Ashford is a technologist, designer, educator, curator and project manager working in the field of wearable technology. Her practice fuses design, code and hardware to investigate how wearable technology can be used to create new forms of nonverbal communication, using physiological and environmental sensor data, amplified as sensory feedback. Her Computing PhD at Goldsmiths investigated potential wearers of responsive and emotive wearables via the development of research prototypes. This research focussed on opinions regarding the experience of wearing technology artefacts in public and private spaces, including investigating issues around personalisation, aesthetics and functionality, as well as ethics and privacy. During her studies, Rain was selected for a Convocation Trust Student Entrepreneur Award, was a finalist in EPSRC’s UK ICT Pioneers Competition and co-developed an EEG controlled dark matter educational game at CERN. She has presented her work extensively in the UK, and internationally in Europe, Asia and USA. Currently, Rain is investigating AI and machine learning for wearable embedded systems.
The round table is moderated by Caroline Yan Zheng, PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art
Free event, register via Eventbrite here
