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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

Emotion is a fundamental component of being human. Joy, hate, anger, and pride, among the plethora of other emotions, motivate action and add meaning and richness to virtually all human experience. Traditionally, human-computer interaction has been viewed as the “ultimate ” exception: Users must discard their emotional selves to work efficiently and rationality with computers, the quintessentially unemotional artifact. Emotion seemed at best marginally relevant to human-computer interaction―and at worst oxymoronic. Recent research in psychology and technology suggests a very different view of the relationship between humans, computers, and emotion. After a long period of dormancy and confusion, there has been an explosion of research on the psychology of emotion (Gross, 1999). Emotion is no longer seen as limited to the occasional outburst of fury when a computer crashes inexplicably, excitement when a videogame character leaps past an obstacle, or frustration at an incomprehensible error message. It is now understood that a wide range of emotions plays a critical role in every computer-related, goal-directed activity, from developing a 3-D CAD model and running calculations on a spreadsheet, to searching the Web and sending an email, to making an online purchase and playing solitaire. Indeed, many psychologists now argue that it is

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.

Character-based social interfaces present a unique opportunity to integrate emotion into technology interactions. The present paper reports on the use of three emotional interactions (humor, praise, and affection) in the audio interfaces for two character-based interactive learning toys. The reasons for selecting the emotions used, the design rationale for their application, and findings from usability testing are reviewed. It is suggested that as a form of pretend play-acting akin to puppetry, social interfaces can engage the emotions of users in a variety of beneficial ways.

The design, development, and deployment of interactive systems can substantively impact individuals, society, and the natural environment, now and potentially well into the future. Yet, a scarcity of methods exists to support long-term, emergent, systemic thinking in interactive design practice. Toward addressing this gap, we propose four envisioning criteria – stakeholders, time, values, and pervasiveness – distilled from prior work in urban planning, design noir, and Value Sensitive Design. We characterize how the criteria can support systemic thinking, illustrate the integration of the envisioning criteria into established design practice (scenariobased design), and provide strategic activities to serve as generative envisioning tools. We conclude with suggestions for use and future work. Key contributions include: 1) four envisioning criteria to support systemic thinking, 2) value scenarios (extending scenario-based design), and 3) strategic activities for engaging the envisioning criteria in interactive system design practice.

this paper explores some of the ethical issues arising from the widespread implementation of intelligent agents within computer based environments 1

This paper surveys some of the main ethical issues pertaining to robotics that have been discussed in the literature. We start with the idea of responsibility ascription that arises when an autonomous system malfunctions or harms people. Next, we discuss various ethical issues emerging in two sets of robotic applications: service robots that peacefully interact with humans and lethal robots created to fight in battlefields. Then, we provide a short overview of machine ethics, a new research trend that aims at designing and implementing artificial systems with “morally ” acceptable behavior. We then highlight resulting gaps in legislation, and discuss the need for guidelines to regulate the creation and deployment of such autonomous systems. Often, when designing such systems, the benefits tend to overshadow partly unknown but potentially large negative consequences.