2021 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Empowerment loop: a value-based model of the interactive unity of human and technology
| Project/Area Number |
18K00035
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| Research Institution | Kanazawa University |
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Principal Investigator |
Grueneberg P. 金沢大学, GS教育系, 准教授 (00757718)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | assistive robotics / human-robot interaction / empowerment |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Phase B "Norms and values of R&D": A paradigmatic case of empowerment technology, the robotic rehabilitation system Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) was analyzed to show how the engineers conceive of human-machine relations within the Cybernics approach. A relational understanding, opposed to common hierarchical conceptions of humans and machines, was identified as the main characteristic. This relational view allowed to explain the systematic (functional characteristics of the Cybernics approach and thereby to overcome cultural stereotypes related to Japanese robotics.
Phases B and C "Implementation model of ET": A critical review of the automation approach showed that human-robot interaction requires a relational understanding that highlights their interdependence. At the same time, more recent composite theories, which claim a network of equal human and non-human agents, tend to overemphasize the compositional character of agency. Drawing on a technical analysis of the HAL system, it was shown that a heterarchical approach simultaneously considers the interdependence of the user and robot and prioritizes the user as much as possible. This strategy to physical HRI as assisted agency paves the way for a humanistic approach to HRI that utilizes non-human forms of agency to support human users. (Publication currently under review)
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Research Products
(7 results)
