The Importance of Realism, Character, and Genre: How Theatre Can Support the Creation of Likeable Sociable Robots
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The Importance of Realism, Character, and Genre: How Theatre Can Support the Creation of Likeable Sociable Robots Louise LePage1 Accepted: 22 February 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Stage plays, theories of theatre, narrative studies, and robotics research can serve to identify, explore, and interrogate theatrical elements that support the effective performance of sociable humanoid robots. Theatre, including its parts of performance, aesthetics, character, and genre, can also reveal features of human–robot interaction key to creating humanoid robots that are likeable rather than uncanny. In particular, this can be achieved by relating Mori’s (1970/2012) concept of total appearance to realism. Realism is broader and more subtle in its workings than is generally recognised in its operationalization in studies that focus solely on appearance. For example, it is complicated by genre. A realistic character cast in a detective drama will convey different qualities and expectations than the same character in a dystopian drama or romantic comedy. The implications of realism and genre carry over into real life. As stage performances and robotics studies reveal, likeability depends on creating aesthetically coherent representations of character, where all the parts coalesce to produce a socially identifiable figure demonstrating predictable behaviour. Keywords Sociable robots · Uncanny valley · Character · Theatre · Realism · Genre
1 The Likeability of the Bunraku Puppet and the Importance of Its ‘total appearance’ Mori’s hypothesis of the uncanny valley, illustrated by his graph [see Mori, 1970/2012], posits a scale of affinity. On the y-axis, this scale of affinity posits not only positive results; it also descends into the negative realm of the uncanny. The x-axis represents a scale of degrees-of-realism of human likeness. Mori’s graph, in short, indicates that the two are causally related. The more realistically humanlike an artificial object appears, the more affinity it will engender in human observers until the tipping point when responses plunge into the uncanny valley before rising again to the figure of the healthy human, which attracts the highest degree of affinity. Mori reflects upon reasons for the likability of the bunraku puppet (Fig. 1) and, in the process, indicates that realism may be a more subtle and broad category than is
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Louise LePage [email protected] Department of Theatre, Film, Television and Interactive Media, University of York, Baird Lane, Heslington, York YO10 5GB, UK
suggested by degrees-of-realism of appearance. Mori positions the bunraku puppet as inspiring more affinity on his graph than any other inanimate object, second only to an ill and a healthy person. His reflection reads as follows: I don’t think that, on close inspection, a bunraku puppet appears similar to a human being. Its realism in terms of size, skin texture, and so on, does not even reach that of a realistic prosthetic hand. But when we enjoy a puppet show in the theater, we are seated at a certain distanc
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