ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses upon robots of a particular kind, namely humanoid robots who imitate humans and humanoid robots designed to be very close to humans in their daily lives. It presents research on how real humans in everyday lives engage with robots and virtual existences in the forms they have been developed at this point of history. The book shows that what is accepted as ‘robot behaviour’ in one culture can lead to an abandonment of robotic engagements in another. It also presents new critical empirical studies of how robots are designed and how their designs work when they are implemented to engage with people in their homes and in care facilities. In times of accelerating production of humanoids and assistive robotics, contributions from the social sciences and humanities are much needed to help qualify the enacted technologies produced by robot engineers.
