Hello, Robot.

»Hello, Robot. Design between Human and Machine« investigates how robotics has become an integral part of our everyday lives. As these intelligent machines emerge from their hidey-holes in washing machines, cars, and ATMs, we are getting used to encountering them almost everywhere: in industry, in the military, and in everyday settings; at nurseries and retirement homes; in our bodies and in the cloud; when shopping and when having sex; in video games and, of course, in films and in literature. The book also shows that design in its traditional function as a mediator is indispensable for robots to participate in our day-to-day activities. In a series of in-depth essays and interviews, experts including science-fiction author Bruce Sterling and the design duo Dunne & Raby explore what an increasingly digital environment means for us humans. They highlight our often ambivalent relationship to new technologies and discuss the opportunities and challenges they pose for us as individuals and as a society. »Hello, Robot.« broadens the scope of debate to include the ethical and political questions arising from technological advances in robotics today and confronts us with the contradictions that often underpin the answers to these questions.

This second, updated edition of the book (first published in 2017) includes a number of new projects as well as an introductory text presenting important recent developments in robotics and digitalization.