Enacting the Soft Automaton: Empirical Ontologies of Two Soft Robots from Technical Research and Media Art

This paper examines two soft robots from technical research and media art respectively and the practices through which they come into being. Departing from a juxtaposition of video presentations of the two robots, the empirical ontologies of a soft robot enacted in practice are analysed. The paper argues that two different versions of softness are being done and that the two sets of practices concomitantly respecify “knowledge” and “autonomy” as concepts, with different ethical and political implications.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Jonas Jørgensen

Conference

Publication date: May 2018

Publication date (Print): May 2018

Pages: 1-9

Affiliations

[1 ] Digital Design Department

IT University of Copenhagen

Rued Langgaards Vej 7, DK-2300

Copenhagen S, Denmark

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.23

SO-VID: dabd0881-ba49-4564-b1d3-e08be0337cb4

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Politics of the Machines - Art and After

Conference acronym: EVA Copenhagen

Conference number: 7

Conference location: Aalborg University, Copenhagen, Denmark

Conference date: 15 - 17 May 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Digital arts and culture

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVAC18.23

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

T Arnold and M. Scheutz 2017 The Tactile Ethics of Soft Robotics: Designing Wisely for Human– Robot Interaction Soft Robotics 4 2 81 87 doi: 10.1089/soro.2017.0032
L Blackman 2009 `Starting Over’: Politics, Hope, Movement Theory, Culture & Society 26 1 134 143 doi: 10.1177/0263276408099019
H Borgdorff 2012 The Conflict of the Faculties. Perspectives on Artistic Research and Academia Leiden: Leiden University Press
R Braidotti 2013 The Posthuman Polity Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA, USA
L Burrows 2016 The first autonomous, entirely soft robot Available from: https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2016/08/first-autonomous-entirely-soft-robot 22 June 2018
P. Gaetano Adi Alexitimia Vimeo Available from: http://paulagaetanoadi.com/works/alexitimia/ 30 May 2018
Harvard University 2016 Introducing the Octobot Harvard University, YouTube Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vkQ3SBwuU4 30 May 2018
N K. Hayles 2014 Speculative Aesthetics Speculations: A Journal of Speculative Realism V 158 179
M HolbraadM. A. Pedersen and E. V. de Castro 2014 The Politics of Ontology: Anthropological Positions — Cultural Anthropology Available at: https://culanth.org/fieldsights/462-the-politics-of-ontology-anthropological-positions 14 June 2018
D Ihde 1990 Technology and the Lifeworld Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press
J Law and M. E. Lien 2013 Slippery: Field notes in empirical ontology Social Studies of Science 43 3 363 378 doi:10.1177/0306312712456947
M. J. Matarić 2007 The Robotics Primer The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, UK
A Mol 1999 Ontological politics. A word and some questions The Sociological Review 47 S1 74 89 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.1999.tb03483.x
A Mol 2014 A reader’s guide to the “ontological turn” – Part 4 Available at: http://somatosphere.net/2014/03/a-readers-guide-to-the-ontological-turn-part-4.html 14 June 2018
Oxford English Dictionary Available at: www.oed.com 14 June 2018
A Pickering 1994 The Mangle of Practice R. C. Scharff and V. Dusek Philosophy of Technology: The Technological Condition: An Anthology 2014 2nd ed. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons 260 265
A Pickering 2016 Art, Science and Experiment MaHKUscript. Journal of Fine Art Research 1 1 doi: 10.5334/mjfar.2
D Rus and M. T. Tolley 2015 Design, fabrication and control of soft robots Nature 521 7553 467 475 doi: 10.1038/nature14543
Science Magazine 2016 ‘Octobot’ is the world’s first soft-bodied robot Science Magazine, YouTube Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDohWwEXQ6 8 30 May 2018
J Sklar 2016 Meet the World’s First Completely Soft Robot MIT Technology Review Available from: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603046/meet-the-worlds-first-completely-soft-robot/ 30 May 2018
P Sormani et al. 2017 Ethnomethodology, Video Analysis, and STS U. Felt The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies 2017 4th ed. Cambridge and London The MIT Press 113 137
I Stengers 2005a Beyond Conversation: The Risks of Peace C. Keller and A. Daniell Process and Difference: Between Cosmological and Poststructuralist Postmodernisms SUNY Press Albany
I Stengers 2005b Introductory Notes on an Ecology of Practices Cultural Studies Review 11 1 17 26
L WangS. G. Nurzaman and F. Iida 2017 Soft-Material Robotics Foundations and Trends® in Robotics 5 3 191 259 doi:10.1561/2300000055
M Wehner et al. 2016 An integrated design and fabrication strategy for entirely soft, autonomous robots Nature 536 7617 451 455 doi:10.1038/nature19100.
C Wolfe 2009 What Is Posthumanism? Universityof Minnesota Press Minneapolis

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] T Arnold and M. Scheutz 2017 The Tactile Ethics of Soft Robotics: Designing Wisely for Human– Robot Interaction Soft Robotics 4 2 81 87 doi: 10.1089/soro.2017.0032

[2] L Blackman 2009 `Starting Over’: Politics, Hope, Movement Theory, Culture & Society 26 1 134 143 doi: 10.1177/0263276408099019

[3] H Borgdorff 2012 The Conflict of the Faculties. Perspectives on Artistic Research and Academia Leiden: Leiden University Press

[4] R Braidotti 2013 The Posthuman Polity Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA, USA

[5] L Burrows 2016 The first autonomous, entirely soft robot Available from: https://www.seas.harvard.edu/news/2016/08/first-autonomous-entirely-soft-robot 22 June 2018

[6] P. Gaetano Adi Alexitimia Vimeo Available from: http://paulagaetanoadi.com/works/alexitimia/ 30 May 2018

[7] Harvard University 2016 Introducing the Octobot Harvard University, YouTube Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vkQ3SBwuU4 30 May 2018

[8] N K. Hayles 2014 Speculative Aesthetics Speculations: A Journal of Speculative Realism V 158 179

[9] M HolbraadM. A. Pedersen and E. V. de Castro 2014 The Politics of Ontology: Anthropological Positions — Cultural Anthropology Available at: https://culanth.org/fieldsights/462-the-politics-of-ontology-anthropological-positions 14 June 2018

[10] D Ihde 1990 Technology and the Lifeworld Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press

[11] J Law and M. E. Lien 2013 Slippery: Field notes in empirical ontology Social Studies of Science 43 3 363 378 doi:10.1177/0306312712456947

[12] M. J. Matarić 2007 The Robotics Primer The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, UK

[13] A Mol 1999 Ontological politics. A word and some questions The Sociological Review 47 S1 74 89 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-954X.1999.tb03483.x

[14] A Mol 2014 A reader’s guide to the “ontological turn” – Part 4 Available at: http://somatosphere.net/2014/03/a-readers-guide-to-the-ontological-turn-part-4.html 14 June 2018

[15] Oxford English Dictionary Available at: www.oed.com 14 June 2018

[16] A Pickering 1994 The Mangle of Practice R. C. Scharff and V. Dusek Philosophy of Technology: The Technological Condition: An Anthology 2014 2nd ed. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons 260 265

[17] A Pickering 2016 Art, Science and Experiment MaHKUscript. Journal of Fine Art Research 1 1 doi: 10.5334/mjfar.2

[18] D Rus and M. T. Tolley 2015 Design, fabrication and control of soft robots Nature 521 7553 467 475 doi: 10.1038/nature14543

[19] Science Magazine 2016 ‘Octobot’ is the world’s first soft-bodied robot Science Magazine, YouTube Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDohWwEXQ6 8 30 May 2018

[20] J Sklar 2016 Meet the World’s First Completely Soft Robot MIT Technology Review Available from: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603046/meet-the-worlds-first-completely-soft-robot/ 30 May 2018

[21] P Sormani et al. 2017 Ethnomethodology, Video Analysis, and STS U. Felt The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies 2017 4th ed. Cambridge and London The MIT Press 113 137

[22] I Stengers 2005a Beyond Conversation: The Risks of Peace C. Keller and A. Daniell Process and Difference: Between Cosmological and Poststructuralist Postmodernisms SUNY Press Albany

[23] I Stengers 2005b Introductory Notes on an Ecology of Practices Cultural Studies Review 11 1 17 26

[24] L WangS. G. Nurzaman and F. Iida 2017 Soft-Material Robotics Foundations and Trends® in Robotics 5 3 191 259 doi:10.1561/2300000055

[25] M Wehner et al. 2016 An integrated design and fabrication strategy for entirely soft, autonomous robots Nature 536 7617 451 455 doi:10.1038/nature19100.

[26] C Wolfe 2009 What Is Posthumanism? Universityof Minnesota Press Minneapolis

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