The Robot Show Must Go On: Effective Responses to Robot Failures

Abstract

This paper consists of a failure analysis of two robot performance productions. Both productions included three-week rehearsal periods, and culminated in live performances including both robots and humans. To develop these productions, a theater artist collaborated with a robotics lab to develop, (1) a narrative dance performed live on stage and (2) an improvisational performance in a public space. While the interdisciplinary team did not set out to explore robot failures, failures played an ever-present role during the eighteen rehearsals and two live performances. This paper details strategies for addressing, planning for, and rehearsing responses to robot failures on stage, both technical and choreographic. In addition to scaffolding future robot theater performances, we discuss how these strategies apply to other customer- and audience-facing robots, including sponsor demos. The on-stage exploration of robot chairs and human performers also suggests that humans can conceptualize minimal robots as both characters and props, moving fluidly from one to the other. We hope these strategies ensure that future audiences will want the robot shows to go on, as well as expand ideas about the types of robots that can be cast in future human-robot productions.