Includes bibliographical references.

1. Robots Wanted -- Dead And/Or Alive; 1.1. Making Love and Killing People: The Old and New Age of Robotics; 1.2. Hype, Hope, and Horror; 1.3. Robots and Science Fiction: Inseparably Linked; 1.4. Research Question and Approach; 1.5. Some Methodological Clarifications; 1.6. A Tour Along the Life Cycle of Robots -- 2. Disciplinary Context and Terminology; 2.1. Human-Robot-Interaction Research: "Controlling" In/Animacy Attributions; 2.2. Terminology: Anthropomorphism, Agency, Animacy, and More; 2.3. Disciplinary Perspectives: Animacy Attribution as an Object of Research vs. Methodological Malpractice -- 3. Making Robots: In/Animacy Attributions in Robotics Research and Development; 3.1. Complex Epistemic Practices in Long-Term HRI; 3.2. Approach; 3.3. The Robot Body in the Center of Attention; 3.4. The Robot as Tool and Team Member; 3.5. Testing in the Real World: The Unpredictable Robot; 3.6. Switching Perspectives: In/Animacy Attributions as Constructive Practice; 3.7. Summary -- 4. Showing Off Robots: In/Animacy Attributions in Robotics Demonstrations, Science Communication, and Marketing; 4.1. Demo or Die: Outreach, Engagement, and Accountability; 4.2. Approach; 4.3. Narratives of Agency: Proof of Functionality; 4.4. Narratives of Desired Futures: Proof of Applicability; 4.5. Narratives of Animacy: Making Robots Engaging; 4.6. Switching Perspectives: In/Animacy Attributions as Constructive Practice; 4.7. Critical Discourse: Simulation or Deception?; 4.8. Summary -- 5. Reporting on Robots: In/Animacy Attributions in Media Discourse; 5.1. Robotics and Medialization; 5.2. Approach; 5.3. Hope, Horror, and Science Fiction; 5.4. From Human-Shaped Software to the Robot Apocalypse: Practices of Animacy Attribution; 5.5. Switching Perspectives: In/Animacy Attributions as Constructive Practice; 5.6. Critical Discourse: Animacy Attributions as Traffic Bait?; 5.7. Summary -- 6. Conclusions ... and Openings; 6.1. A Recapitulation; 6.2. The Constructive Quality of In/Animacy Attributions; 6.3. Critical Discourse: Individual and Systemic Issues; 6.4. In/Animacy: Beyond Robotics; 6.5. Speaking Clearly: A Take-Home Message

We know that robots are just machines. Why then do we often talk about them as if they were alive? Laura Voss explores this fascinating phenomenon, providing a rich insight into practices of animacy (and inanimacy) attribution to robot technology: from science-fiction to robotics R & D, from science communication to media discourse, and from the theoretical perspectives of STS to the cognitive sciences. Taking an interdisciplinary perspective, and backed by a wealth of empirical material, Voss shows how scientists, engineers, journalists - and everyone else - can face the challenge of robot technology appearing "a little bit alive" with a reflexive and yet pragmatic stance

Description based on online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on June 29, 2022).

WorldCat record variable field(s) change: 650