Robotic technologies are often proposed to relieve dull, dirty, or dangerous work, but may cause work to instead be experienced as boring, or dehumanized. Understanding the impact of robotics on the workfloor is complicated by the entanglement between emerging robotic capabilities, social dynamics, and organizational issues—which we call Worker–Robot Relations. Consequently, the impact of robotics on work is often studied in hindsight. Speculative design methodologies can facilitate alignment of robotic developments with a meaningful future of work, by creating boundary objects for communicating about current and future work practices. Making use of an unfolding artistic collaboration, we propose an experiential approach for speculating about future Worker–Robot Relations. We enabled speculative encounters between participants and robotic creatures that embody seven meta-behaviors. We abstracted these from observed behaviors in a current work context in baggage handling. We present the findings from focus groups responding to these encounters, including implications for HRI and speculative design.

This full-day workshop is dedicated to mapping and building a community toward shaping sustainable futures of robot-assisted work, with and for workers. The program encompasses lightning keynotes from HRI experts, talks from selected participants bringing case studies, and a hands-on mapping activity for understanding the landscape of robotics innovation at work - in order to foster knowledge exchange and learning. The workshop culminates in a facilitated conversation with workers and managers from a particular case study, providing real-world insights into the challenges, complexities and opportunities for our HRI community in shaping the future of work. With this rich set of activities, the program aims to bridge the gap between academics and practitioners, and to promote a holistic understanding of our roles in shaping the future of work, with particular attention to systemic challenges and value-driven approaches. The workshop will conclude with a synthesis of key takeaways and potential directions for future research and community building.

Mohsen Malmir1 http://mplab.ucsd.edu/~mmalmir/ Karan Sikka1 http://mplab.ucsd.edu/~ksikka/ Deborah Forster1 [email protected] Javier Movellan2 http://www.emotient.com/ Garrison W. Cottrell3 http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~gary/ 1 Machine Perception Lab. University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA 2 Emotient, Inc. 4435 Eastgate Mall, Suite 320, San Diego, CA, USA 3 Computer Science and Engineering Dept. University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA