Open Sourcing Social Robotics: Humanoid Artifacts from the Viewpoint of Designers

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to define a remit of interest for design and designers in the field of products and services employing human face as an interface with users. From the point of view of design culture, humanoid artifacts, are at the intersection of product design, visual communication, and interaction design. The release of open hardware platforms, such as Arduino Robot, as well as the diffusion of fabrication laboratories (fablabs) and open design practices are the early manifestations of a wider interest toward social robotics accompanied by the possibility of building working prototypes of humanoid artifacts. The use of human face as interface in human–computer interaction adds analogic content to interaction processes in an unmediated and unobtrusive way, transferring human–computer interaction to the field of interpersonal communication. Nevertheless, the field of anthropomorphic artifacts is generally neglected by designers and rather controlled by engineers and experimental psychologists. Starting from a definition and taxonomy of humanoid artifacts, the aim of this chapter is to describe the paradigm of human–computer interaction through case studies of humanoid artifacts and to define criteria for the evaluation of humanoid artifacts from the perspective of design practice.