In this study, we investigated people's relationships with AIBO, a robotic pet, through 6,438 spontaneous postings in online AIBO discussion forums. Results showed that AIBO psychologically engaged this group of participants, particularly by drawing forth conceptions of technological essences (75%), life-like essences (49%), mental states (60%), and social rapport (59%). However, participants seldom attributed moral standing to AIBO (e.g., that AIBO deserves respect, has rights, or can be held morally accountable for action). Our discussion focuses on how robotic pets (now and in the future) may (a) challenge traditional boundaries (e.g. between who or what can possess feelings), (b) extend our conceptions of self, companionship, and community, and (c) begin to replace interactions with live pets. We also discuss a concern that people in general, and children in particular, may fall prey to accepting robotic pets without the moral responsibilities (and moral developmental outcomes) that real, reciprocal companionship and cooperation involves. This research contributes to a growing literature on the human-robotic relationship.

Value Sensitive Design is a theoretically grounded approach to the design of technology that accounts for human values in a principled and comprehensive manner throughout the design process. It employs an integrative and iterative tripartite methodology, consisting of conceptual, empirical, and technical investigations. We explicate Value Sensitive Design by drawing on three case studies. The first study concerns information and control of web browser cookies, implicating the value of informed consent. The second study concerns using high-definition plasma displays in an office environment to provide a “window ” to the outside world, implicating the values of physical and psychological well-being and privacy in public spaces. The third study concerns an integrated land use, transportation, and environmental simulation system to support public deliberation and debate on major land use and transportation decisions, implicating the values of fairness, accountability, and support for the democratic process, as well as a highly diverse range of values that might be held by different stakeholders, such as environmental sustainability, opportunities for business expansion, or walkable neighborhoods. We conclude with direct and practical suggestions for how to engage in Value

approach to the design of technology that accounts for human values in a principled and comprehensive manner throughout the design process. It employs an integrative and iterative tripartite methodology, consisting of conceptual, empirical, and technical investigations. We explicate Value Sensitive Design by drawing on three research and design projects. One project involves cookies and informed consent in web browsers; the second involves projection technology in an office environment; the third involves user interactions and interface for an integrated land use, transportation, and environmental simulation.

Abstract — In this paper, we move toward offering psychological benchmarks by which to measure success in building increasingly human-like robots. By psychological benchmarks we mean categories of interaction that capture conceptually fundamental aspects of human life, specified abstractly enough so as to resist their identity as a mere psychological instrument, but capable of being translated into testable empirical propositions. Six possible benchmarks are considered: autonomy, imitation, intrinsic moral value, moral accountability, privacy, and reciprocity. Finally, we discuss how getting the right group of benchmarks in human-robot interaction will, in future years, help inform on the foundational question of what constitutes essential features of being human.

This study examined preschool children’s reasoning about and behavioral interactions with one of the most advanced robotic pets currently on the retail market, Sony’s robotic dog AIBO. Eighty children, equally divided between two age groups, 34-50 months and 58-74 months, participated in individual sessions that included play with and an interview about two artifacts: AIBO and a stuffed dog. Results showed similarities in children’s reasoning about the two artifacts, but differences in their behavioral interactions. Discussion focuses on how robotic pets, as representative of an emerging technological genre in HCI, may be (a) blurring foundational ontological categories, and (b) impacting children’s social and moral development. More broadly, results inform on our understanding of the human-robotic relationship.

We describe techniques, implemented in a junior software engineering course, for creating an environment of safety and for regulating the amount of conflict so that students can learn how to use conflict to benefit their learning and the project instead of being overwhelmed or discouraged by it. Intra-personal and inter-personal conflict, such as internal uncertainty, dissonance between one’s desires and abilities, and perceptions of problems in other people, are inevitable in our lives and jobs. Learning to deal effectively with these conflicts is essential to becoming an effective engineer. This starts with realizing that there can be value in conflict. Conflict motivates learning because people do not like to repeat frustrating, embarrassing, or painful experiences. Conflict inspires innovation by illuminating areas of misunderstanding, invalid assumptions, personality or value differences that, when explored, can result in greater value to everyone involved. To maximize learning, it is important to balance conflict with safety. Too much or the wrong type of conflict can be detrimental to learning. The techniques we used, some of them borrowed from professional leadership training programs, had a positive impact on the students, as revealed by their weekly reflective essays and by individual communication with them during and after the course. Students, perhaps subconsciously, created conflicts that enabled them to learn lessons they needed to learn. One aspect of safety is how to limit the damage of mistakes while encouraging learning from mistakes. To that end, we chose not to have a real-world customer whose dependence on the project success would have increased the damage from a potential project failure. Our focus was on the learning – in the true spirit of academia – in order to prepare students for successful engineering careers. 1.

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