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Abstract: The application of anthropomorphic design features is widely assumed to facilitate human-robot interaction (HRI). Robots with human-like features are expected to be more functionally adapted to a world created for humans and moreover enable a more intuitive and smooth interaction. Additionally, designers aim to shift the perception of robots from a machine to that of a team partner in various fields of application ranging from industrial manufacturing to social interactions. But is this design approach generally beneficial for HRI independently of the robot’s functionality? While current research in social HRI supports this assumption broadly, a different picture emerges in other domains. First studies in industrial HRI have demonstrated, for example, that anthropomorphic design features can undermine the perceived reliability and trustworthiness of collaborative robots (cobots). In my talk I will discuss these (conflicting) findings and address factors that might determine if anthropomorphism in robotic design is beneficial or detrimental.

Biography: Linda Onnasch holds the Chair of Engineering Psychology at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. Her research focusses on human interaction with automation (e.g. cognitive decision aids) and robots, especially with regard to effects of function allocation and design on trust and behavior.
In 2015, Linda has obtained her PhD on human-automation interaction at the TU Berlin. From 2015 to 2017 she worked as a scientific consultant at HFC Human-Factors-Consult. She has worked as an interdisciplinary project leader with international companies and research institutions. Since 2018, Linda is part of the executive committee of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society – Europe Chapter.

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Abstract: The importance of cities has been dramatically growing due to various reasons; first, because of rising number of population living in cities. In fact, UN predicts that 68% of the world population would live in urban areas by 2050 (UN, 2018). Second, because of their concentrated economic activities. Indeed, more than 80% of global GDP is generated in cities (World Bank, 2019) and urbanization has contributed to economic growth through increasing productivity. Third, however, they are vulnerable to natural disaster. Extreme weather events are projected to become more frequent and intense and are among the key risks of global warming that will pose the greatest threat to humans (IPCC, 2014). These events cause much bigger impact in cities, where population densities are higher and where vulnerable population is concentrated. While these disasters affect everyone, there is growing evidences that it poses specific risks for vulnerable population in urban areas (HelpAge, 2015). While all of the risks of disasters require prevention and assistance by governments at national, regional and local levels during crisis, solutions could also be found through co-production among public and private sectors, civil society, and affected population itself.
Cities have attracted technological, especially digital investment, because of the same reasons above mentioned, and numerous smart cities have been created in the world. Smart cities first aimed to solve problems related to energy, then traffic, congestion, and pollution, finally and more recently, public services, quality of life, sustainability and resilience. Many projects involve various cutting-edge technologies; however, they cannot be realised without the active participation of the citizens and the civil society. Technologies adopted to the territories need to be regulated by the government and accepted by the citizens. This presentation aims to classify smart cities and analyse their potential and limitations, highlighting the dichotomy between technology and society.

Biography: Prof. Dr. Hiroko KUDO is full professor of public policy and management at the Faculty of Law, Chuo University. She has been visiting professor at many European universities, and was visiting research fellow at Economic and Social Research Institute of the Cabinet Office and at the Policy Research Institute of the Ministry of Finance, Japanese Government.
Her main research topics include: co-production in public service delivery; Smart City; e-Government and digitalisation of public administration.
Her works include: “How are Citizens Involved in Smart Cities?: Analysing citizen participation in Japanese “Smart Communities”” (with B. Granier), Information Polity, Vol.21, no.1, (2016) and “Death of “Open Data”?: How Open Data has been realising and/or not realising Open Government”, in Proceedings of the Central and Eastern European eDemoacry and eGovernment Days 2019, Austrian Computer Society, (2019).

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Abstract: At present, there can be observed a thrust of technological progress in biomedical engineering and medical informatics, which contributes to new configurations of socio-technological settings in healthcare and the medical field. More precisely, rather than being stand-alone apparatuses situated only within their physical place, medical devices are nowadays also covering robot technology and become increasingly connected in a digital sense. The relationship between technology and society has been studied by various disciplines, including STS (Science and Technology Studies). Here, devices and infrastructures are not seen as neutral objects but shaped by their social context in multiple ways. Nevertheless, the meaning of socio-technical settings changes not only with their professional, disciplinary or organisational context, but also with their specific locale. This talk therefore reflects how the relationship between humans and devices in medical contexts can be specified when the sociocultural dimension of a particular locale is included. For instance, the study of the social context provides manifold insights on knowledge production, research and development processes, user contexts and the institutional background of the making and application of medical devices. Examples from research literature and case studies illustrate these intersections during the talk.

Biography: Susanne Brucksch is principal researcher at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), Tokyo. She was senior researcher at Free University Berlin before as well as visiting scholar at Waseda University in 2016 and the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Innovation and Competition in 2019. Brucksch has been serving as chair of the advisory board of DWIH Tokyo (German Centre for Science and Innovation) 2019-2021 and as board member of VSJF (German Association for Social Science Research on Japan) since 2016. Her research focuses on innovation and research collaboration regarding medical devices in Japan. Her recent publications comprise the forthcoming volume "Humans and Devices in Medical Contexts. Case Studies from Japan", edited with Kaori Sasaki, Palgrave Macmillan (Link to the book).

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Abstract: In the past decade, significant advances have been made in standardization for service robots. The first milestone was ISO 13482 by ISO/TC 299 in 2014. In Japan, manufacturers have been using ISO 13482 for their safety certifications. Based on their experience, JIS B 8446 series were published in 2016 as more specific safety standards to ISO 13482, which are fed back to the revision of ISO 13482. As for medical robots, ISO/TC 299 and IEC/TC62 jointly published IEC 80601-2-77 (surgical robots) and -78 (rehabilitation robots) in 2019. They will be referred by medical device regulations of each country. In addition to the product safety, the operational safety has become a topic in ISO/TC 299 because the total safety stands on both the product and the operation. The trigger was JIS Y 1001 published in 2019. It was soon proposed to ISO/TC 299, and then new WG 7 was established. They are discussing to make it ISO 31101. In my keynote speech, I will introduce and summarize the activities and achievement on service robot standardization in ISO/TC 299 and Japan.

Biography: He received his Ph.D. degree in Information Science and Technology from the University of Tokyo in 2009. He was a researcher in CYBERDYNE, Inc. for 10 years. Since 2018, he has been working as a self-employed consultant with his trade name Octa Robotics and, at the same time, an engineer for Preferred Networks, Inc. He is the Convenors of WG 4, JWG 5 and AG 1 of ISO/TC 299. He contributed to ISO 13482, IEC 80601-2-78, ISO 18646-4, JIS B 8446-2, JIS B 8456-1 and JIS Y 1001. He received RSJ Young Investigation Excellence Award, IROS Conference Best Reviewer Award and International Standardization Encouragement Award.