On the effect of generating identity vis-à-vis teleoperated robots
With social robots, which are expected to enter our everyday social life in the near future, new phenomena are occurring that call for interdisciplinary research in the fields of engineering and social sciences. With the use of teleoperated robots, which sometimes simulate the “telepresence” of a controlling person vis-à-vis a human interaction partner, the effect of a separate identity generation for the interaction medium itself becomes apparent. Thus, on the one hand, the controllers adapt their identity to the shape and interaction modalities of the robot, and on the other hand, during the human-robot interaction, the interaction partners primarily refer to the interaction-mediating medium as an actor, instead of to the controlling person. The research project aims to complete an advanced qualitative interaction analysis on identity shifts in teleoperated situations of human-robot interaction in order to contribute to social science theorising on the interplay of social presence and “technical identities” under the influence of embodied media on the one hand, and to provide hints for the future construction of social interaction robots on the other hand.
Research focus
- Social theory
- Communication studies
- Human-robot interaction
- Social Cognition
- Social Presence
Curriculum Vitae
- Member of the “Working Group on Social Science Theory” at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg and of the “Communication Culture” working group at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen (KWI)
- Lecturer and doctorate at the Institute for Social Sciences at the Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg
- Research fellowship at “ATR – Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories” (IRC) in Kyoto/ Japan (funded by JSPS/DAAD)
- Research scholarship at “NTT – Human and Information Science Laboratories” as a member of the “Sensory and Motor Research Group” in Kanagawa/ Japan (funded by JSPS/DAAD)
- Studied Communication Science and German Studies (focus on linguistics) at the University of Duisburg-Essen
Lectures and publications
- Straub, Ilona (in print). From Object to Subject. Attributions of sociality and entity to an android robot. Dissertation thesis. To be published. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
- Lindemann, G.; Matsuzaki, H.; Straub, I. (2016). Going beyond the laboratory – reconsidering the ELS implications of autonomous robots. Special Issue Publication: AI & Society. Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Communication (Editor-in-chief: K. Gill) DOI: 10.1007/s00146-015-0623-6
- Straub, Ilona (2016). It looks like a human! The Interrelation of Social Presence, Interaction and Agency Ascription – A case study about the effects of an android robot on social agency ascription. In Lindemann, G.; Matsuzaki, H.; Straub, I. (Guest Eds.): Going beyond the laboratory: Reconsidering the ELS implications of autonomous robots. Special Issue Publication: AI & Society. Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Communication (Editor-in-chief: K. Gill). DOI: 10.1007/s00146-015-0632-5
- Straub, I.; Nishio, S.; Ishiguro, H. (2012). From an Object to a Subject – Transitions of an Android Robot into a Social Being. In Proceedings21st IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (Ro-Man), Paris, France, (pp. 821-829).