As robots are going to spread in human society, the study of their appearance becomes a critical matter when assessing robots performance and appropriateness for an application and for the employment in different countries, with different background cultures.

Religion has been throughout history one of the main factors characterizing cultures, and there is a long history of intertwinements with automation.

With the emerging robotic platforms and applications that involve religion, it is the right timing to face this potentially controversial topic.

The objective of this workshop is to establish religion as a sub-field of Culturally-aware Robotics, by defining its theoretical background and its most relevant goals in today’s world.

​

​

List of Topics:
Culturally-aware Robotics
Religions
Aesthetic design
RoboEthics
Transhumanism
Robotics-related Anthropology

​

​

Confirmed speakers:

Anne Foerst, St. Bonaventure University, USA

Christopher Benek,  First Presbyterian Church of Ft. Lauderdale, USA

Gabriele Trovato, Waseda university, Japan; PUCP, Peru

Yueh-Hsuan Weng, Tohoku University, Japan

Tetsuya Matsui, Flower Robotics, Japan

Takeshi Kimura, University of Tsukuba, Japan

​

​

Programme:
14:00 - 14:30 Takeshi Kimura: "A New Horizon for the Study of Religion: Robot/AI and Human in Future"

14:30 - 15:00 Anne Foerst: "Building Robots as Prayer"

15:00 - 15:30 Tetsuya Matsui: "Design for perception of the world"

15:30 - 15:45 break

15:45 - 16:15 Gabriele Trovato: "Introducing 'theomorphic robots'"

16:15 - 16:45 Christopher Benek: "We are AI: How Christian Theology Radically Impacts Social Robotics"

16:45 - 17:15 Yueh-Hsuan Weng: "When robots meet Eastern religions: An example of Taoism"

17:15 - 17:45 panel discussion
 

Organising committee:

Gabriele Trovato, Waseda university; Pontificia Catolica Universidad del Peru

Francisco Cuellar, Pontificia Catolica Universidad del Peru

Alexander Huerta-Mercado, Pontificia Catolica Universidad del Peru

 

Contact:
gabriele at takanishi.mech.waseda.ac.jp