Creative robotics symposium

Over the last few years, robotic and animatronic technologieshave been increasingly used in the creative and entertainmentindustries. Continuing miniaturisation and ever more powerfulprogrammable ICs mean that animatronic models, once the province ofremote control, are now ever more capable of operating responsivelyand autonomously. Recent advances in robotics related technologiesand design approaches, coupled with reasonable, increasingexpectations of what robots are capable of makes the identificationof a coherent field of creative robotics particularly timely.This Symposium seeks to bring together academic researchers,industry representatives and arts practitioners to explore theexpressive potential of 'creative robotics' technologies in bothsmall works and in the wider context of the creative andentertainment industries. To date, the field of creative robotics,and the corresponding opportunities for cross-sector networking,are largely overlooked. Interestingly, the British Council'srecently produced opt-in, informal audit of UK robotics doesrecognize such a sector, even taking a "Creative Robotics" roadshowto China in 2003. However, the emphasis there largely concentratedon exploiting the popularity of television programmes such as RobotWars and Technogames, rather than directly promoting the highlyrefined robotics related technologies developed within academia andthe creative and entertainment industries.A Government sponsored mapping document defining the creativeindustries currently includes "Interactive Leisure Software","Software and Computer Services", "Film and Video", "Crafts" and"Design" but does not mention robotics as such. The Symposium willhelp promote "Creative Robotics, Mechatronics, and Animatronics" asan area worthy of recognition in forthcoming Creative IndustriesMapping exercises.Studies of future markets for robotic products have identifiedentertainment robots as being one of the most likely to succeed inearly markets. An example is Sony's robot dog Aibo. Publicacceptance of entertainment and domestic robots is criticallydependent on their look and feel. Artists are needed to make theappearance of these robots friendly and appealing while often, butnot always, keeping their robotic basis evident. This symposiumseeks to bring together the disparate robot and artisticcommunities for the mutual benefit of creative robotics and topresent a more positive image of robotics and the roboticscommunity.The symposium will aim to foster closer relationships betweenscience, technology and arts/performance research sectors as wellas the creative industries and act as a launchpad for technologytransfer from academic research into creative applications.This is likely to be beneficial on several grounds:- much research output never it makes it out of the lab, orfurther into the public domain than academic conferences orpublications. Creative and 'artistic' demonstrations open up newapplication areas and provide an accessible way of engaging thepublic and revealing to them something of the potential of aparticular piece of research.- applications and themed activities provide a rich and highlymotivating context for learning about, developing and applyingtechniques 'for real' in an educational setting. The Symposium willtherefore provide an opportunity to develop and publicisetechnologies for teaching robotics and using robotics as a creativeeducational tool.-The UK Government set up NESTA the National Endowment for Science,Technology and the Arts with the specific aim of fundingco-operative activities between scientists, engineers and artists.This symposium responds to that interest.The Symposium will therefore provide an opportunity for roboticsresearchers to describe creative applications of their researcheffort as well as discussing technical issues and approaches thatare relevant to the use of robotics in the creative industries andentertainment sectors.Members of the recently established EPSRC funded CreativeRobotics Research Network are strongly encouraged to attend theevent.- advanced Animatronics for Television, Art Galleries, Theatres,Amusement Parks and Museums- state-of-the-art presentation robots- Cybernetic art/robots as artwork- robot music- artwork creating robots/robot painting- educational robots- human robot interaction- robot tour guides- public engagement with robotics and engineering, mechatronics andanimatronics- public robot competitions- public demonstrations of simulated intelligent behaviour