RoboDoc: The emerging co-construction of a man+machine participant

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Abstract

A telepresence robot enables visual and audible access to remote settings through a video camera. The robot has a large screen 1,8 m. above ground. It occupies a physical position in space and it is mobile and controlled by a dislocated actor. This paper reports on findings from a nursing home in Denmark, where a doctor is virtually present through the robot. The paper is based on approximately 20 hours of video recordings from 5 situations within the same nursing home in Denmark. The paper focus on three interrelated phenomena: 1) how machine-”head” and -“gaze” direction is accomplished, 2) how machine-“mobility” in a social context is accomplished and 3) how social interaction through talk is sequentially fitted to the specific affordances of the robot. Thus, the paper shows how the robot is oriented to as a ‘cyborg’ – a man-machine configuration in a participation framework with shifting contextual configurations. This research contributes to EMCA studies of space and mobility (McIlvenny, Broth, & Haddington, 2009), of head movement and gaze (Kendrick & Holler, 2017) and mediated interaction (Arminen, Licoppe, & Spagnolli, 2016). Arminen, I., Licoppe, C., & Spagnolli, A. (2016). Respecifying Mediated Interaction. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 49(4), 290–309. Kendrick, K. H., & Holler, J. (2017). Gaze Direction Signals Response Preference in Conversation. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 50(1), 12–32. McIlvenny, P., Broth, M., & Haddington, P. (2009). Communicating place, space and mobility. Journal of Pragmatics, 41(10), 1879–1886.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date2018
Publication statusPublished - 2018
EventNordic Interdisciplinary Conference on Discourse and Interaction - Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Duration: 21 Nov 201823 Nov 2018
http://conferences.au.dk/nordisco2018/

Conference

ConferenceNordic Interdisciplinary Conference on Discourse and Interaction
LocationAarhus University
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityAarhus
Period21/11/201823/11/2018
Internet address

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