Date:
Wednesday, October 12, 2005   4:30-5:30p

Location:
301 College Avenue, Seminar Room

Abstract:
The introduction of robotic technologies into the domestic environment presents numerous challenges for human-computer interaction. The actual technologies are unfamiliar and awkward and our expectations are convoluted by media and discourse. However, for these very reasons, domestic robots also provide novel opportunities for design research.

In this talk I will explore the ways the introduction of robotic technologies into the home produce disturbances that illuminate, and potentially refigure, relations between architecture, products, and everyday domestic life in interesting and unexpected ways. Drawing on research from cultural probes, interviews with owners of the Roomba robotic floor vac, and a critical examination of the discourse and media surrounding domestic service robots I will provide examples of the conflicts between "the home" and "the robot". I argue that considering the home as site of resistance to the introduction of robotic technologies yields valuable insights for design. But rather than rushing to design "better robots" I suggest that we should pause to examine the tactics that are employed by users in "making-do" with such an unfamiliar and awkward technology. These tactics reveal how users manipulate both their material and social environment as well as the use of the robot to conform with their desired home life.

Bio:
Carl DiSalvo is a PhD candidate in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. Carl's work approaches design from a critical and reflective perspective. He uses design to ask questions, provoke debate and facilitate conversations concerning the social aspects of technologies and technological discourses. His work also questions design itself, examining and critiquing contemporary design products, practices, and agendas.

Carl's current research is focused in two domains. The first is the development of robotic technologies for the home. The second is the design and use of information and communication technologies for community representation, action, and expression in urban neighborhoods.

Carl is currently a graduate research associate on The Project on People and Robots in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute and an associate fellow at The Studio for Creative Inquiry. Previously Carl worked as a designer for MetaDesign and The Walker Art Center's New Media Initiatives.

If you would like to meet with Carl, or for more information, please contact Jofish Kaye.