Social interaction with autonomous artefacts WASP-HS

Social autonomous systems, SAS, soon will be a common but disruptive element in daily life -- at work, at home, in school, and so on. The adequate and smooth integration of such technology into society requires the development of novel models of human-machine interaction that respect privacy and safety, feel comfortable for human users, are effective, meaningful, and stimulating, and much more. The project is expected to clarify the relation between SAS and humans and determine what means of interaction would be appropriate and how they can be supported and learnt, describe how the interaction will affect the individual on the micro and macro levels, inform the design of the interaction, etc. It gathers expertise in philosophy, developmental psychology, phenomenology, cognitive science, and robotics. Philosophical tools and theories are instrumental for developing the theoretical framework, investigating the foundations of social interaction, generating hypotheses and systematizing data, and specifying how technology modulates interaction. Developmental psychology contributes knowledge about the origin and basis of social cognition and interaction. Phenomenology investigates the experience of interaction and its influence on behavior. Cognitive science identifies the functions and causal mechanisms that underlie interaction. Robotics plays a double role: it develops hardware and algorithms for social technology, and is a tool for investigating embodied cognition in humans.