Public Engagement with Robotics, Animatronics and Artificial Intelligence
Lead Research Organisation:
University of the West of England
Department Name: Faculty of Environment and Technology
Abstract
Robotics, Animatronics and Artificial Intelligence are ideal vehicles for building public engagement in science, engineering and technology; they are subjects that are intrinsically compelling and engaging.A major step needed to achieve effective engagement with the contemporary issues in these areas is the building of the required skills and relationships amongst the scientists and engineers, and the facilitators and deliverers of events. However, engineers have identified the need to spend more time on research as a major drawback for engaging with the public , so finding the time to develop these skills and produce high quality public engagement activities is difficult.In September 2007 an EPSRC stage award funded the 3-year Walking with Robots (WWR) programme to provide support for those in robotics and related research to deliver public engagement events. However, in order to deliver innovative public engagement activities based on their research, WWR network members must seek additional funding from external bodies (e.g. industry, government, charities and learned institutions). WWR is now a continually expanding network of engineering researchers and public engagement experts. Over the last eight months the WWR has had a considerable amount of success in running a number of small-scale, repeatable activities as they involve a more achievable commitment for the majority of active researchers in this field.This project will devise and run a residential workshop with the aim of efficiently developing a number of these small activities, at the same time as strengthening the public engagement skills of both existing WWR network members and new researchers.* Over the course of a 3-day workshop, participants will experience the lifecycle of a public engagement event from conception through delivery to evaluation. The running of the workshop in such a condensed format seeks to reduce a prolonged pressure on research time in order to devise and deliver a reusable public engagement activity under the theme of Robotics, Animatronics and Artificial Intelligence. * The delivery phase of the project will capitalise on the momentum such a workshop will generate the applicants seek to use the output of the workshop at a number of science festivals during 2008. The festivals have been deliberately chosen as they have large numbers of attendees and are spread both geographically and over time. This means that regardless of the location of the researcher they should be able to attend a festival.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Alan Winfield (Principal Investigator) | |
| Claire Rocks (Co-Investigator) |
| Description | This project aimed to: * Deliver public engagement activities in the area of Robotics, Animatronics and Artificial Intelligence * Build the necessary skills in Robotics, Animatronics and Artificial Intelligence researchers interested in engaging the public with their work * Forge relationships between the research and public engagement communities * Increase awareness within the Robotics, Animatronics and Artificial Intelligence research communities of public engagement opportunities available to them, including the Walking with Robots network * Encourage the workshop participants to have fun and generate enthusiasm for public engagement * Use a number of young, active, researchers in Robotics, Animatronics and Artificial Intelligence to inspire young people about science and engineering In order to meet the aims, the following objectives were identified: * Provide an inspiring and professional residential workshop in public engagement with Robotics, Animatronics and Artificial Intelligence. To be run 18-20 February 2008. * Enable workshop participants to produce and deliver a quality activity or resource for use in future activities * Organise a half-day of event delivery at the end of the workshop for participants to thoroughly evaluate their activity * Provide each participant with the contact details of their local BA branch (so they can use their activity during National Science and Engineering Week events in their locality) * Facilitate the delivery or public engagement events, by young researchers, at the Imagineering Fair, Royal Bath and West Show 2008, Discover Zone at Cheltenham Science Festival 2008, Science Explosion at the BA Festival of Science 2008, Hands-on Exhibition at the BA Festival of Science 2008, Imagineering Fair, Ricoh Arena 2008, Bright Sparks at Brighton Science Festival 2009, Big Science Saturday at Brighton Science Festival 2009 engaging a total of 12,000 people with their research. * Demonstrate the value of both the workshop format and delivery mechanism in encouraging young researchers into public engagement. * Demonstrate the effectiveness of the activities delivered in engaging the public with the research |
| Exploitation Route | Skills learned, developed and practised by the 37 attendees of the workshop were used in subsequent public engagement events. These are summarised in the narrative impact section. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Description | The workshop phase: 1. 37 participants, representing 18 organisations, attended the workshop 2. The program for the workshop included 5 plenary sessions covering PE skills. Participants were then split into 4 streams (Talks, presentations and shows; New media; Demonstrations/make-and-take activities; Discussion/debate events) where they worked with recognised experts to develop an activity 3.Participants were introduced to the activities of the Walking with Robots network during the conference introduction. Further examples were introduced as part of the streamed sessions 4. 16 activities were developed and demonstrated on the final day. In addition, the New Media team produced a blog reaching 943 unique visitors internationally during the workshop 5. The public event element of the workshop attracted an estimated audience of 400. Audience opinions, and those of At- Bristol staff, were very positive The delivery phase: 1. 17 researchers, who had attended the workshop, took part in between 1 and 5 delivery events. One year later the evaluator was able to contact 29 of the 37 researchers - 24 had been involved in a total of 44 delivery activities (this includes 16 who had been involved in the 7 events organised by WWR). Those who had not taken part in WWR events had been involved in a variety of other activities (University Open Days, music and science festivals, NSEW and blogs). 5respondents had not taken part in any PE activity - they attributed this to work pressures and research deadlines. The highest numbers of delivery activities were described by researchers who had taken part in WWR events 2. 8369 visitors to the activities were counted by WWR stickers handed out at events; this is a conservative estimate as not all visitors wanted a sticker; the provision of multiple activities at events meant the average observed dwell time for visitors was 5 to 10 minutes, with some staying 45 minutes - many visitors took part in several activities and received only one sticker. The official estimate of visitors to the events was 52803. 3. The evaluation used a number of approaches: Observation of the workshop; workshop entry and exit questionnaires; a 6- week e-survey; observation of delivery events; feedback from researchers who took part in delivery events; 29 interviews with researchers 1 year after the workshop; informal interviews with 44 visitor groups; and 69 audience questionnaires 4. The evaluation states that at the end of the workshop 'All the participants were encouraged to reflect on the activities, with almost all of them demonstrating a good understanding of what was needed to attract and engage the public'; Information gathered at the end of the project showed that all 29 respondents said they could identify at least 1 impact, with improved communication skills and a new network of contacts being the most common answers. Other responses ranged from greater awareness of science coverage in the media, to having devised and delivered their own PE projects. Those researchers who identified the highest number of impacts had all taken part in delivery events organised by WWR; 5. The evaluation states that 22 researchers said they were intending to deliver PE activities in the near future... 7 indicated that their plans included more events organised by WWR. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2008 |
| Sector | Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Electronics,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | At-Bristol |
| Organisation | At-Bristol |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Start Year | 2008 |