How do people react when brought face-to-face with intelligent robots for the first time? It’s a question that has fascinated Mari Velonaki for nearly a decade. But she is no anthropologist. She’s not even a scientist in the conventional sense. Velonaki is an artist with a PhD, and a passion for electronics. She is also determined enough to have convinced the prestigious Australian Centre for Field Robotics in Sydney to give her a desk, lab space and expert assistance to help her understand what happens when humans interact with mechanical beings.
Velonaki has collaborated with robotics scientists at the centre…
