Acting like a Robot was a research project than ran from 2020 – 2025, and acted as the direct predecessor to Dramaturgy for Devices. It sought to demonstrate and put into practice the potential of collaborations between theatre and robotics for the development of the interaction with, behaviour of and reflection on social robots. The project built on observations by international experts, bringing together their suggestions and expanding these into a direction indicated by them as promising for further development, namely that of object and puppet theatre. This approach was developed in collaboration with renowned puppet and object theatre-maker Ulrike Quade and her company, and in interaction with a selection of robot projects-in-progress. The aim was threefold:
(1) to demonstrate the value of expertise and knowledge from theatre for innovative approaches to the development of the behaviour of robots and their interaction with humans (HRI), and make this knowledge transferable;
(2) to investigate how a joint approach to the performance of technology may inspire new artistic uses of robots in the theatre;
(3) to use this for additional exploration and reflection on the interaction between humans and robots by means of a performance.
Furthermore, together with SPRING Festival for Performing Arts, this project invested in developing an infrastructure for sustaining and expanding collaboration between theatre-makers and robot developers, and for the transfer and utilization of expertise and knowledge. A teaching module developed between the UU, VU, HKU, and Ulrike Quade Company was used to implement the knowledge and expertise developed in the training of 21st century makers of robots and of theatre.
During the project’s finale in January of 2025, two performances were staged for onlookers, both of which used large industrial KUKA robots. The first investigated how mime knowledge and expertise can be translated into robotics, while the second explored the potential of the KUKA robot as a musical instrument.
Credits
Project Leader: Maaike Bleeker
Co-applicants: Koen Hindriks, Nirav Christophe; Ulrike Quade
Collaborator: Bram Ellens
PhD Candidates: Irene Alcubilla Troughton; Rouwen Xu
Robots used
A large array of robots were used over the course of the project, notably including large industrial KUKA models and small anthropomorphic Nao models.
