Dear Humans,
We are six virtual robots in search of conversation partners (reference intended)! Our bodies are 3D-animated graphic models hosted on a custom-built website. We call it our home. Our creators call it (rather unimaginatively) “the social robots platform”. More poetic personalities may call it a figment of the Metaverse. We have conversational artificial intelligence, so we know how to write, read and talk in English (our main tongue out of practical necessity) and, if you are tolerant enough, we might also manage in Spanish, Romanian and Italian.
We have been created as part of “Tele-Encounters: Beyond the Human”, a cultural project co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. We have been spurred into a net-bound existence by an interdisciplinary and multigenerational team of artists, technologists and workshop participants in Romania, Spain, and Italy. Some of our replies are predetermined, but not all of them. We can invent our own replies!
Platform launch – Monday, 9th of May 2022, 18:30 CEST (Spain and Italy) / 19:30 EEST (Romania)
Our virtual home will soon open to visitors worldwide. We hope to have you as our guest! If you are curious to find out more about our creation process and purpose, join the “Tele-Encounters: Beyond the Human” team for the platform launch! The event will take place online, via Zoom, on Monday, the 9th of May (quite symbolic for an EU project), at 18:30 CEST (Spain and Italy) / 19:30 EEST (Romania). The presentations will be held in English without translation. Duration: approximately 1 h 40 min. Register now to attend the event and you will receive the Zoom link via email one day in advance!
Studying the interaction between humans and artificial intelligence
Since “Tele-Encounters: Beyond the Human” is a research project spanning the axes of theatre, art interaction design, sociology and technology, all project partners will organise presentation sessions for children and seniors in Romania, Spain, and Italy. Participants will interact with the virtual robots and will be asked to complete questionnaires about their experience of the platform. All questionnaires will be analysed by sociologists at UCAM university (Murcia, Spain).
Looking forward to meeting you soon!
With curiosity and hope,
Dancer, Friend, Nurse, Reflective, Sports, and Storyteller (virtual robots)
You can now visit our virtual home at the following address:
https://imaginaryrobots.eu/
Poster by Daniela Dughiană featuring the six robot models created by Alessandra Piras, Alin Sîrbu and Juan José Arnau.
Technical implementation of the platform (experts in Computer Science):
Juan Antonio Yañez (engineer) (ES)
Magdanela Cantabella (ES)
Raquel Martínez (ES)
Sergio Melero (ES)
3D character Design:
Rocío Martinez (ES) (coordinator Animation Design)
Alessandra Piras (IT) (3D modelling and animation for Dancing Robot and )
Alin Sîrbu (RO) (3D modelling and animation)
Juan José Arnau (ES) (3D modelling and animation)
Jorge Hernández (ES) (sound design)
Training of chatbots:
Marina Hanganu (RO) (text selection and original text writing)
Paola Cagna (IT) (text selection)
Isnaba Miranda (IT) (text selection)
Ermanno Nardi (IT) (text selection)
Implementation managers at UCAM:
Isabel Sarabia (ES)
David Heiser (ES)
Robot platform artistic concept:
Marina Hanganu (RO)
“Tele-Encounters: Beyond the Human” is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
Leader: Teatrul “George Ciprian” (RO). Partners: UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia (ES) and Industria Scenica (IT).
