Human-Robot exploration

Humans use a variety of technological artefacts to explore outer space, with robotics developing as an important field. Space exploration also provides an opportunity to develop social robotics. It has been shown that prolonged social isolation increases the tendency to anthropomorphise nonhuman agents. While it is recognised that an illusion of humanness can be successfully created in inanimate objects, whether it is possible to maintain such an illusion over time remains to be understood. Manned space missions provide an example of intense isolation, hence, a particularly sharp focus on our tendency to anthropomorphise and an opportunity for long-term Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) studies. The use of social robots in space missions will contribute to understanding anthropomorphism and social interaction that involves not only astronauts but also other socially isolated individuals who are often targeted in HRI research. This paper adopts the stance that the goal of social robotics in a space exploration context is to constructively develop an illusion of human traits in a machine in order to either help manage a need for a degree of social interaction, or to extend human sensing and action through more immersive telepresence robotics.