Abstract:The focus of the following article is on the use of new robotic systems in the manufacturing industry with respect to the social dimension. Since "intuitive" human-machine interaction (HMI) in robotic systems becomes a significant objective of technical progress, new models of work organization are needed. This hypothesis will be investigated through the following two aims: The first aim is to identify relevant research questions related to the potential use of robotic systems in different systems of work organization at the manufacturing shop-floor level. The second aim is to discuss the conceptualization of (old) organizational problems of human-robot interaction (HRI). In this context, the article reflects on the limits of cognitive and perceptual workload for robot operators in complex working systems. This will be particularly relevant whenever more robots with different "roles" are to be increasingly used in the manufacturing industry. The integration of such complex socio-technical systems needs further empirical and conceptual research with regard to "social" aspects of the technical dimension. Future research should, therefore, also integrate economic and societal issues to understand the full dimensions of new human-robot interaction in industry today.
Anticipation of the future use of innovative technologies and of their respective societal impact is at the core of technology assessment and responsible research and innovation. Stakeholder and user involvement is often thought to be important for broadening the design and specification of technology before its use; meanwhile, demand analysis is typically used to determine which type of already developed technology is best suited to adequately meet a particular societal demand. Thus, we ask whether the process of demand analysis can be used to enable stakeholders and users to envision and assess future technologies. This question will be answered regarding assistive technologies for people with dementia by focusing on the respective care-giving arrangement, an area where up to now no or only low-level technologies have been in use. The demands of these people for support are typically expressed in nontechnical terms. We find that the involvement of technology developers helped these participants to begin imagining more specific potential technical solutions and to assess them with respect to their future desirability.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Die seit Mitte der 1990er Jahre beschworene Vision, dass das Internet in nur wenigen Jahren von allen Bevölkerungsschichten genutzt würde, kann heute als gescheitert gelten. Empirische Erhebungen zeigen, dass man sich auf absehbare Zeit auf einen relativ stabilen Sockel an Nichtnutzern des Internets einstellen muss. Der folgende Beitrag vertritt die Auffassung, dass diese Beobachtung sowohl Konsequenzen für die Forschung zur "digitalen Spaltung" als auch für die allgemeine Forderung nach einem "Internet für alle" hat. Zu den "Offlinern" zählen nicht nur sozial und kulturell benachteiligte Gruppen, sondern auch Teile der Bevölkerung, die technische und nichttechnische Alternativen zum Internet bevorzugen. Der Beitrag breitet entsprechendes empirisches Material aus und schlägt eine Typologie der "Offliner" vor. Im Rahmen der bisherigen Forschung zur digitalen Spaltung wird die Nichtnutzung in erster Linie unter dem Aspekt ihrer Überwindung und nicht (auch) als Ausdruck einer alternativen Mediennutzungsstrategie analysiert. Diese fehlende Anerkennung der Nichtnutzung nennen wir den "blinden Fleck" in dieser Diskussion, den wir im Rahmen des Beitrags offen legen und die Konsequenzen aus diesem Tatbestand diskutieren.
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