City of Bots is and interactive experience which is created during the course of ITD. It all started with the we received from the Cities of Things foundation, which challenged us to design autonomous robots performing in a neighbourhood, while also raising critical questions. We decided to take on a more philosophical approach to this brief, and create a interactive experience that raises question about robots integrated in our lives, while also making use of technology to display this to people in a fun, aesthetic and interactive way.
‘City of Bots’ is a miniature diorama that aims to raise provocative questions about the role of autonomous robots in our neighbourhoods.
First, the user takes place in front of a control panel with a large screen that allows them to look inside the model. The panel will allow them to move rotate the camera, as well as move it forwards and backwards. The camera is placed on the ground level, allowing the user to experience the scene as if they were in it. The diorama depicts a neighbourhood in the future, and shows residents interacting with robots in various ways. Each of these interactions is accompanied by a sign, raising a related critical question about the role of robots in our society.
Looking around in the city by using the control panel
After the user has explored the street from the view within, they are invited to take a peek behind the curtain, literally. By walking behind the screen they arrive in a small curtained off section that holds the diorama itself, something they have not been able to observe directly until now. By looking into the display directly, they can see the entire miniature street, possibly finding things they may have missed earlier. They can also look into some of the houses, which was not possible from the camera’s view. These houses hold additional context for the interactions seen on the street, possibly changing the views of the observer.
A peek inside two of the houses
Taking a look at the diorama behind the curtain
City of Bots raises questions on a number of topics that are important to consider when envisioning a future in which robots are more and more involved in our daily live. In our diorama we covered a few subjects which we felt were relevant to make people think about; such as privacy, (the loss of) social connection, vandalism (both against robots or executed by robots), accountability and use of public space. The reason we created this experience is because we want people to think about the role of robots in our society, especially now that robots and AI are being developed at a fast pace and are often already inconspicuously integrated into our lives in many ways. Our diorama creates a moment to reflect. We do not try to portray a negative or positive image of robots, but rather ask open questions that allow people to form their own opinions. During the exhibition we noticed that the questions in the exhibit often raised new questions and sparked conversation, which is exactly what we intended with our experience.
Question about social connection
Question about responsibility
The creation of ‘City of Bots’ roughly consisted of two parts. The technological part, and the creation of the actual diorama. To let people be able to look into our created neighbourhood and ‘drive around’ in it, we attached a camera to a linear actuator. The camera was attached to a servomotor which made it able to turn around. With a potentiometer, people could turn the camera around themselves. They could also determine the position of the linear actuator themselves by extending it or pulling it back with two buttons. The potentiometer and the buttons were all integrated in a control panel, and connected to itsybitsy’s which were connected to the physical parts (linear actuator and servomotor).
The control panel
Participant using the control panel to look around
