Thesis Document

 

Concept Statement:

 

Context: I am studying sociable robot,virtual companion and the implications of having a virtual companion as the substitute of real one.

 

Intention: I want to discover possible virtual companionship between sociable robot and human using cutting edge technology (AR,VR,etc)

 

Impact:

Arouse people’s reflection on virtual companion by designing a specific type of sociable robot for people who seek companion.Does it make us more separated from the real world? Do people actually need virtual companion? How does virtual companion affect the way we interact with real human?

 

Prototyping Statement:

 

The Core issues I need to address.

Technology:  IOS ARkit, Unity ARkit

Experience Design: Story, Interaction Design, Scenario

 

My prototype would have two parts, a storyboard and an AR app prototype.

The storyboard tells you what is the story and how users interact with it.

The AR app prototype shows the possibility of using AR as the tool.(what should I demonstrate?)

Question

  • Does virtual companion help with loneliness problem or does it make us more separated from the real world?
  • whether these virtual companion have made our quality of life better or worse
  • If it’s a distraction that makes us feel better, then is it a bad thing?

 

Precedent

1.Gate Box

How: AR device(existing) / virtual girlfriend / single men who live alone / social isolation /  informs him of the weather, send text message, and gets him to work on schedule, watch tv with him.

 

2.Strange Beasts

How:Satirical Movie/ AR eyes / a tech CEO pitch his virtual companion app / create your own beasts/ his daughter is also virtual/

 

3.Black Mirror : man against fire

How: Critical Movie/AR eyes/ control soldier’s sight / DNA screening/ turn innocent human into monster/

 

4.2012 Sights AR

How: Critical Movie/ AR eyes/ developer/ dating app with facial recognition and body language detection/ control other people’s eyes

 

  1. Hyper reality

How: AR dog/ motivate you to shop

 

Reference:

http://fortune.com/2016/12/18/gatebox-virtual-assistant-japan/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/22/japan-long-hours-work-culture-overwork-paid-holiday-law

 

  1. inmootor

http://metro.co.uk/2016/12/23/this-woman-is-in-love-with-the-robot-she-3d-printed-and-wants-to-marry-it-6341542/

 

Research document

  1. Alone together – Turkle Sherrys
  2. Connected, but alone – TED Turkle sherry https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together

 

Story inspiration 

The main scenario of the story is a restaurant designed for single person, it provides an AR virtual companion for single dinner, it helps them order food, it chats with them and let them feel like being understood.

 

Wesley considers the possibility of two “women,” one real and the other artificial: “Maybe I would want a robot that would be the perfect mate—less needs—and a real woman. The robot could take some of the pressure off the real woman. She wouldn’t have to perform emotionally at such a high level, really an unrealistic level. . . . I could stay in my comfort zone.”

 

Dependence on a person is risky—it makes us subject to rejection—but it also opens us to deeply knowing another. Robotic companionship may seem a sweet deal, but it consigns us to a closed world—the loveable as safe and made to measure.14

 

It is easier to trust a robot than a person: “You can only trust a person if you know who they are. You would have to know a person more [than a robot]. . . . You wouldn’t have to know the robot, or you would get to know it much faster.”

Caring for others makes her feel being needed in a way that life at home sometimes does not.  

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