FCJ-204 Degrees of Freedom

Abstract

This paper critiques a choreographed performance of embodied agency by a ‘very humanlike’ (Ishiguro, 2006) gynoid robot. It draws on my experience in 2013 with Actroid-F (or Geminoid-F), designed by ATR Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories, when I created six artworks making up Actroid Series I. My analysis here proceeds from and through the part-programmed, part-puppeteered actions and vocalisations of Actroid-F for my six-minute video Radical Hospitality, in which the robotic gynoid actor performs compound negotiations of embodied authority, docility, and compliance. Design of ‘very humanlike’ androids risks instilling into robotic agents existing and discriminatory societal standards. My performance, installation and screen works trouble the gendered aesthetics predominant in this realm of engineering design.