Assistive robotics and care networks: how do we imagine our future?

As populations age, there is an urgent need to rethink the future of assisted living. Somoure is an artistic research project that explores the production processes, impacts, and consequences of developing assistive robotics.

Nyam is a robotic arm designed by the Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics (CSIC-UPC) to feed individuals who cannot do so themselves. Over nine months, the collaboration between IRI and the artist Mónica Rikić has allowed the robot to be reimagined from the perspective of assistive robotics—not only as a technological problem to be solved but as a network of necessary interconnections to shape expectations about the demographic shift.

Through the conceptual research process, the project has gathered opinions from specialists in philosophy of technology, sociologists, domestic work union representatives, and other activists regarding the presence and impact of assistive robotics in caregiving work.

This dialogue on assistive robotics, future structures, and care will feature Júlia Borràs (IRI, CSIC-UPC), Karina Fulladosa (Sindillar), Daniel López (CareNet, UOC), and Mónica Rikić. The goal is to collectively reflect on how care and society must be examined from a critical, reflective, and interdisciplinary perspective. Following the discussion, there will be an informal debate with the audience and a presentation of the artistic outcome of the project: a DIY replica of Nyam created through a collaborative design process. This replica aims to modify (hack) its form, behavior, and most importantly, the architecture of its code to reflect various social concerns and critical philosophical perspectives on robotics and care.
Currently, the Somoure project is on display at the Monasteri de Sant Cugat as part of the Manifesta15 Barcelona Metropolitana Biennial.

This event is organized by HacTe, the Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics (CSIC-UPC), UPCArts, and Ateneu Barcelonès, as part of the S+T+ARTS in the City project, a European Commission-funded initiative that aims to foster cross-innovation between the arts, sciences, and technologies. It is supported by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

PROGRAM
6:00 – 6:05 PM: Welcome
6:05 – 7:30 PM: Dialogue: Assistive robotics and care networks: how do we Imagine our future?
7:30 – 7:50 PM: Presentation of the Somoure Project: Artistic Residency and Nyam Robotic Platform
7:50 – 8:30 PM: Aperitif

Participants:

• Mónica Rikić: Electronic artist. Winner of the 2021 National Culture Award of Catalonia. She works with code and creative electronics, combining them with non-digital objects to create electronic theatrical devices and robotic installations. Her interest lies in the social impact and critical thinking around alternative technologies through open hardware.
• Júlia Borràs: Researcher at CSIC focused on how robots learn to interact with their environment and the design of robotic hands, with over 15 years of research experience. She studied Mathematics at UPC and Computer Science at UOC and earned her PhD in robotics from the Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics (UPC-CSIC) in 2011. She conducted research in the US and Germany for seven years and returned to Catalonia in 2018 as part of a European project on robotic manipulation of clothing. She won the prestigious Ramon y Cajal research fellowship and became a tenured scientist at CSIC in 2020. She currently researches assistive robotics and clothing manipulation, serves as editor of the international journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, and is the deputy director of the Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics (CSIC-UPC).
• Daniel López Gómez: Associate professor of Social Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology and Education at the UOC and co-director of the CareNet research group at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3). His research lies at the intersection of Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Aging Studies. He examines the emergence of new care infrastructures in a context of care crisis and demographic change, focusing particularly on the development and consequences of care digitalization and the creation of new environments, communities, and homes to age with care.
• Karina Fulladosa-Leal: Social researcher and activist from Sindillar/Sindihogar. She holds a PhD in social psychology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) with the thesis: Women on the Move: Expanding the Margins of Social and Political Participation in Collective Action as Domestic and Care Workers (2017). Her main contribution is the concept of “mimopolitics,” which refers to a set of practices related to care politics by engaging affectively and politically in social transformation processes and the demand for dignified working and living conditions. She is currently a board member of the Francesca Bonnemaison Women’s Center – La Bonne.
• Carles Sora-Domenjó: Interdisciplinary researcher in new media, designer, and producer of digital projects in the cultural field. He is currently the director and professor at the Center for Image and Multimedia Technology (CITM) at UPC-BarcelonaTech. He holds a PhD in digital media from Pompeu Fabra University (2015) and was a postdoctoral Fulbright researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2017-2019). His research focuses on interactive and immersive narratives and digital art. He has contributed to various applied research projects, co-led a S+T+ARTS project, and published several articles in international journals, as well as a book on digital temporalities (UPC Press).

Moderator:

• Alejandra López Gabrielidis: Philosopher and researcher specializing in art and digital technologies. Her research focuses on new modalities of embodiment that arise in relation to the phenomenon of datafication, exploring the interaction between data and the body from an agency and distributed cognition perspective. She currently works as the coordinator of the PhD Unit at BAU, University Center of Arts and Design in Barcelona, and as a professor of Aesthetics and Art Theory in the Design and Fine Arts degrees at the same university. She has worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the Technopolitics unit of the CNSC (Communication Networks and Social Change) group at the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), and as co-coordinator of the Socio-Technical Conceptualization Vector. In addition to her academic work, she has translated works by authors such as Franco “Bifo” Berardi and Katherine Hayles, and has published numerous articles and essays in various specialized journals and media outlets.