One of the enduring objects used to represent our technological future is the robot. This legacy means that its promise has the ability to evolve in accordance with our societal and cultural dreams and aspirations, it can reflect the current state of technological development, our hopes for that technology and also our fears; fundamentally though after almost a century of media depictions and public demonstrations, the robot is yet to enter our homes and lives in any meaningful way.

The thesis behind this PhD is based on the identification of technological habitats and examining how a technology can migrate between them. More simply, questioning how technology [1.] does not, [2.] does and [3.] could become a product. The investigation uses the robot as a vehicle for the study and borrows from the science of ecology and biological concepts of evolution and domestication to draw analogies between the migration of habitats that occur when a natural organism goes through the process of artificial selection and the transition an emerging technology makes in order to become a suitable product for domestic use:

 

[1.] Technology does not make the transition from research laboratory (a.) to everyday domestic life (b.): Robots continue to be a symbol in popular culture for the technological future, a role they have held for over eighty years, they are however, yet to enter everyday life in any significant way. This leads to the identification of a third habitat (c.) the current destination for the majority of domestic robots: technology fairs, publicity events and research laboratory open houses. The research explores why technological depictions of the future so often fail to materialise.

[2.] Technology does make the transition from laboratory to everyday life:

I examine how an emerging technology can be adapted to everyday life through the process of domestication, comparing the journey of a renowned recipient of artificial selection (the dog) with that of a successful technological artefact (the computer).

[3.] How technology could make the transition from research laboratory to the home:

Here I describe Speculative Design, specifically how it can be used to present tangible, poignant and engaging depictions of either near-future life through the extrapolation of emerging technologies and cultural trends or alternative versions of contemporary life through the application of different ideologies or configurations to those currently directing product or technological development. By stepping out of the normative relationship that ties technological development to commercial markets and political notions of progress, speculative design opens up a space for alternative perspectives, critical reflection and examination into the implications of new technologies rather than the development of culturally untested applications.

Throughout the PhD, these theoretical investigations run parallel to the practice-based element allowing for interplay between the two. This resulted in four speculative design projects offering alternative configurations and critique of robotic technology and a suggestion of what a more domestic robot might be.

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