Reflections

I’ve grown to truly appreciate the process of research throughout this Design Writing arena. I mentioned this in a previous blog post on my visit to the Presidio and relating it to Turkle’s work, but the power of observation rang true throughout this robot project. Even outside of going to the Presidio, researching the various components of my robot’s functions forced me into this observation of necessity (i.e. does using phytoremediation make sense in cleaning water pollution?) and understanding how to make sense of its function(s). I admit, I think my brain juices have just about evaporated from the amount of information I read and collected for this robot project—I was forced to re-read and read very slow all of the scientific/technological attributes I wanted to apply to my robot—but it definitely was a great lesson in research, again, observation, and how I go about writing in this way during my time at CCA and beyond.

The readings, I must say, were definitely stuff out of a science fiction novel that left me a little uncomfortable and leery about robots. Uncanny Valley shared my sentiments on this notion of human-like robots, which even reading Turkle’s book, brought about an eerie feeling. It’s an amazing and scary line we are crossing in pursuing bringing robots to life. Amazing, in the sense that, the technology that is being produced is creatively intriguing, but scary because it all feels like a cover up of life that we can barely handle nor understand. It would be nice to see this type of creativity in dealing with our lives as it is (i.e. connecting as humans to deal with vulnerability), instead of what I feel is an escape mechanism, intentional or not. From Turkle to Mori to the city of robots and other unbelievable robotics I have come across due to our work in this arena, I am still baffled that such a robotic world is truly existing or in the works of existing in our lives. I remember as a child, watching the Jetsons, and I was so sure that none of this would ever exist in “real life”. When our class saw Asimo (the Honda robot), I could of fell out of my sit because I never in a million years would have thought the Jetsons world would come to life. As I mentioned, we can barely handle life let alone understand it, so I do worry were all of this will take us.

World’s First City Robots

My initial reaction was that its silly and then I started thinking about the various movies out there that involved the evolution of robots in our human lives (i.e. RoboCop, I, Robot, AI, etc.). I am starting to think that the fantasies of robotic living exaggerated in films may not be an exaggeration after all. It’s a scary thought. I also realixe how much of our complexities as humans still, till this day, out way all of this modernization/big business growth we make so much noise about. I find this project a waste of time and money because, as Armstrong stated, you can’t create innovation for humans if they are not a part of the equation.

Uncanny Valley

“Also attesting to this false impression is the fact that many people struggle through life by persistently pushing without understanding the effectiveness of pulling back.”

This is one of the passages from Uncanny Valley that stood out for me the most because this is an area I have yet to see in our quest for robotics/technological advancement. This push to accelerate is what humans are striving so hard to fulfill, but not thinking about the consequences. I appreciated Mori’s analogy of our technological push to make robots human and absolutely loved the term uncanny valley. I’m not a fan of this hurdle to humanize the robot and it creeps me out the thought of interacting with a human-like robot (Robocop scared the heck out of me and Cog in Turkle’s book was very eerie). Uncanny Valley had me thinking whether we can ever accept being human. Our human instincts (i.e. the uncanny valley) and life (i.e. birth and death) are inevitable, so why keep pushing the inevitable away? Yet, when, as Mori mentions, you see someone who is disabled, does this push towards humanistic robotics make sense?

I remember watching a news report on a U.N. or U.S. Embassy bombing someplace in either Africa or the Middle East and the reporter was interviewing an official who had survived the attack. She ended up blind due to the attack and the reporter had asked her a question about how she is coping with having lost her sight. Throughout her response—which she mentioned, honestly, how it was difficult to adjust having been someone with sight for most of her life and then, all of a sudden, it being taken away—I was trying to imagine if I was ever put in that position, what would I do? How would I feel? I get anxiety attacks when my ears are clogged up from a bad cold, so could I live without sight (or hearing) that I’ve known most of my life? If robotics were available to allow me to see (or hear) again, can I honestly say I would not consider its possibilities?

As much as I am still very much at bay of the thought of human robots and the overall non-human agenda in technology and robotics, I am also a part of the agenda and do consider its possibilities if I ever needed it.  

Work in The Presidio

I walked along Crissy Field a couple of times reading the infographics about the Foredune Habitat Restoration along the beach and the purpose of these plants to the Presidio’s ecosystem. What initially drew my interest towards the plants was the fence they lived in, which was to keep them protected from trampling by humans. I began to think of how a robot could be used to protect the plants and why. They have a fence, which seems to be doing a good enough job because they didn’t look trampled on. Right? Well, I kept going back to this logic of the fencing being enough, but still wanting to tap into the possibility of the robot as protector.

I did talk with the Visitor’s Center, which did not yield much information except a Parks Conservancy volunteer contact named Alex Hooker who works with maintaining the fencing and plants within the Crissy Field’s beach area. Since I was not 100% percent sure whether I could get far enough in creating a robot for this area of interest, I kept on observing the Presidio for other possibilities.

It was kind of funny because as I was struggling to walk along the beach—sand and walking in shoes just don’t mix—my eyes kept looking back and forth to the Golden Gate Bridge and the ocean. Then I saw a boat and would go back to the bridge and ocean. It eventually struck me the idea of water pollution from our industrial living. I have heard through the grapevine about the Bay’s waters being polluted due to such industries as the Port of Oakland and with industry in such close proximity, I began to wonder how much of an effect it maybe having on the Presidio. From my observations for this inquiry, I could not find much except what I visually saw with the bridge, boats, housing, cars, and other everyday industrial happenings and what I heard about in the past. So, after spending a good time walking along the Crissy Field beach several times and even heading up to the hiking areas near the walk through to the Golden Gate Bridge, I left the Presidio with no concrete idea for my robot, but some areas of interests to tap into, nonetheless.

From my initial idea of the Foredune robot protector, I can relate it to Turkle’s work in regards of understanding why a robot is or is not needed for a specific purpose. I saw the fence as a resolve, which a robot may end up being unnecessary. As when Turkle’s robots were assigned to the nursery home, it makes you think whether these robots were necessary when all these elders really needed was human connection. But, then again, if these fences aren’t doing the job they were assigned to do, then maybe a robot (who is closer to the functions of a human than a fence, in regards to, being programmed to monitor and respond when someone tramples a plant and/or crosses a certain boundary that puts the plants in danger, which enables protection, maybe on a better scale) maybe the answer. Turkle’s robots sent to the nursery home provided a connection for these elders that was lacking due to various factors (i.e. their children not being present regularly, the nursing homes not being able to accommodate the elders through showing interest in their needs and wants, and so on), which may have been the needed antidote for their situation. Another aspect of Turkle’s work that can relate to my robot is paying attention to those things we take for granted. Reading about Turkle’s findings on the interaction of robots with children and adults put in perspective how much we are missing in our engagement with life. From simply observing an object such as the Golden Gate Bridge, it spiraled into observing how we live our lives with cars and how much more of an effect it has from the everyday occurrences of driving. With the little research I have done, thus far, on water pollution I was surprised to find that cars are one of the biggest pollutants not from only driving or pumping gas, but majorly through leaking oil or washing your car and the remnants going down into storm drains. I am starting to see how this goes beyond the surface. Turkle’s book reaches a great depth of research via observation that provided her with an in depth view of robots in our lives, which is a great tool in how I go about my research and robotic creation.

Humor and grandma

Harkening back to robots and people, here's a lovely project created by photographer Sacha Goldberger with his 91-years old grandmother who was  suffering from loneliness and depression...Love it!

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/11/02/humorous-portraits-of-a-90-year-old-grandmother/
 

James Cameron's Dive into the Abyss

 Research Highlight: Scripps Delivers Science to James Cameron’s Historic Dive into the Abyss

Design Writing: Robot Project (Idea: Water Robots)

Articles on water robots:

Robotic Bubbles Will Explore the Ocean Depths

Design Writing: Robot Project (Idea: Movement...Sea Turtles)

Articles on sea turtles and their swimming capabilities/mechanism:
Sea Turtles

Sea Turtles and Speed

Swim speed and movement patterns of gravid leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) at St Croix, US Virgin Islands

Design Writing: Robot Project (Idea: Human Hair and Oil Spills)

 

Article:

Human hair used to help cleanup Gulf Coast

ROBOT PROJECT PROPOSAL (DRAFT)

PROBLEM

The San Francisco Bay is home to an ecosystem of plants, microorganisms, and animals. It is also a place of recreation and urban living. Through the influx of human disturbances (personal and industry), the waters of the San Francisco Bay have gone through extreme circumstances that are harming this delicate ecosystem. One of the biggest concerns is chemical pollution. According to Save The Bay’s website, “three million gallons of oil a year is spilled into the San Francisco Bay”, which also includes “harmful metal particles such as lead, zinc, and copper” (Save The Bay). In addition, the advent of mercury in the waters has raised concerns about its affects on fish and wildlife reproduction (Save The Bay) and concerns of sewage disposal due to “sewage spills and crumbling sewage infrastructure (United States Environmental Protection Agency).

PROPOSAL

With this information and understanding of the harms of chemical pollution on The San Francisco Bay, I am proposing to create a robotic monitoring and data collecting system that will swim into the depths of The San Francisco Bay to record levels of the specific chemicals: lead, zinc, copper, oil, and mercury. The robot will have its own propelling mechanism that will allow it to “swim” effortlessly within the waters while picking up samples of water to be brought back for examination. It will also be equipped with a camera to take high-res photographs of The San Francisco Bay’s depth and wildlife to tie in visually what chemical pollution has caused to the ecosystem. 

THE NEED TO BE ALONE TOGETHER...

One of the most profound points that Turkle makes in her assessment of technology and our human experience is her observation (and personal opinions) on how this relationship affects the most vulnerable, children and the elderly. “We explain Kismet’s technical problems to Estelle, but nonetheless, she makes every effort to get Kismet to speak. When her efforts bear no fruit, Estelle withdraws, sullen…She tells us that the robot does not like her. We explain this is not the case. She is unappeased” (Turkle, pg. 96). I started to experience Estelle’s interaction and response to the human-like Cog on a personal level because of the vulnerability of my own daughter. I could see in Estelle what I see in my child and it brought this sense of disappointment for what I have struggled with as a parent (reflective of what Turkle mentions earlier in her book about people, according to children, as “often disappointing”) and a new perspective on the vulnerability of my daughter via her experience with technology. It brought to my attention how much I don’t want technology interfering with my daughter’s vulnerability. I see it as a fearful hindrance that, for children like Estelle and my daughter, may do more harm than good. There seems to be no room to acknowledge this vulnerability, which, as humans, involves our nature-made minds to necessarily confront and work towards lessening this vulnerable state. In the case of children, putting in the human work to relieve vulnerability will allow for healing, which, in turn, encourages the joys of childhood and the healthy growth to adulthood. For technology to take the place of this experience seems to call for a quick fix that doesn’t last, but for as long as technology is turned on (because god forbid that it turns off or malfunctions. We become human again.).

From the observation of the elderly, I took another personal view of seeing this vulnerability with my parents. Both of my parents are still mobile and seem to be in between the stages of showing off their still youthful agility (i.e. my close to sixty year old mother running around with her already tired daughters and forever energetic granddaughter in a game of soccer) and realizing that they are getting older (i.e. not going to bed without two gulps of Tylenol for aches and pains). Yet, although they are not immobile or in a nursing home and they are both active in terms of continuing their workaholic ways, I did see that sense of loneliness Turkle mentions as an unfortunate reality for many elders in this modern world. My parents are becoming a part of that lonely population of older generations. My sisters and I are so much more focused on our lives and strugglingwith the pace of society that we feel we have no room to deal with our parents’ aging. As mentioned by Turkle, “grandparents…whose care is often a source of family tension” (pg. 73), the thought of having (having, in the sense of, the cultural implications, as Nigerians, to mandatory responsibility [or face tremendous guilt and spiritual ramifications] of taking care of your parents) to take on the responsibility of your parents in old age is quite daunting (and I say this as a thirty-something mother with child whose growing up and I’m getting older). Yet, as Turkle discusses the feelings children have towards their grandparents and the idea of technology taking over their human care, I couldn’t help but notice my own reserves of such a thing as an AIBO or My Real Baby bringing comfort, companionship to people who brought me into this world and took care of me without any robotic/AI assistance. This conflict also brought to light how much my parents are using other forms of technology such as the television to compensate for their loneliness. I know these ideas of robotic elder care and/or tuning into some form of technology (i.e. television) amidst the loneliness involves various human factors, which one them is the lack of time children take and/or are allowed to care for their parents. It is very bothersome, yet fascinating, of this supposed relationship (at least, to the human), especially when observing it from an adult perspective whose grown up unlike a child whose still developing.