According to Nature Future Conditional, a Japanese theatre is setting up a stage version of Kafka’s Metamorphosis. In this particular version of the play, the protagonists does not transform into an insect, but rather finds himself in the body of one of Hiroshi Ishiguro’s Androids. I think this is a brilliant idea. I think that the use of a robotic body to signify the alien self that Gregor finds himself in is really interesting. One of the most common proposed uses of Ishiguro’s is as ways for us to extend our presence into environments that we are unable or unwilling to be in. Already, robotic systems are marketed to doctors and other health-professionals allowing them to interact with their patients. In Europe, the Giraffe robot is a good example.  This robot is marketed on the company website as allowing the carer to …”make short visits in between other appointments just to “check in” and spend some social time instead of always rushing to complete in-home tasks…Maybe even make the difference in that person being able to live independently”. If anything, the  company meets any potential criticisms of technology dehumanising relationships straight on, by making sure that the human added value to using the robot is brought home to the customer.

Doing a house call from home with a Giraffe.

Still it makes me think of the movie Surrogates, where Bruce Willis deals with a world in which nobody goes outside, instead sending their robotic avatars to face the world. It even has one of Ishiguro’s androids in the title sequence. One of the frontiers of telepresence in that movie is that of robotic avatars for children. It seems that in the telepresent future, children are still children.

Bruce Willis finds himself in a similar conundrum in the movie Surrogates.

The year after Surrogates was released, however, the following paper was presented at the 19th IEEE International Symposium in Robot and Human Interactive Communication (Ro-man 2010):  “Telerobotics connecting classrooms between Japan and US: a project overview.” by Tanaka Fumihide and Tomoyuki Noda. This paper outlines the work that the authors did using telepresence robots to allow Japanese primary school pupils to interact with children and teachers in an American school. This is intended to allow for greater language immersion and so facilitate the acquisition of the foreign language and the ability to move in the same space as those one interact with seems to make interactions more engaging.. The later work by this group has shown that the use of telepresence robots have some benefits.  While you may feel alienated from your telepresent robotic body, it is still less alienating than only being present as a disembodied voice, or an image on a still screen.