Robot death care: A study of funerary practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 603-621
Author(s):  
Hannah Gould ◽  
Michael Arnold ◽  
Tamara Kohn ◽  
Bjørn Nansen ◽  
Martin Gibbs

Across the globe, human experiences of death, dying, and grief are now shaped by digital technologies and, increasingly, by robotic technologies. This article explores how practices of care for the dead are transformed by the participation of non-human, mechanised agents. We ask what makes a particular robot engagement with death a breach or an affirmation of care for the dead by examining recent entanglements between humans, death, and robotics. In particular, we consider telepresence robots for remote attendance of funerals; semi-humanoid robots officiating in a religious capacity at memorial services; and the conduct of memorial services by robots, for robots. Using the activities of robots to ground our discussion, this article speaks to broader cultural anxieties emerging in an era of high-tech life and high-tech death, which involve tensions between human affect and technological effect, machinic work and artisanal work, humans and non-humans, and subjects and objects.

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 10-14
Author(s):  
Ildar R. Begishev ◽  

The development of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies around the world is happening at a fairly rapid pace. The emergence of high-tech solutions and innovations entails the formation of legal terminology for breakthrough technologies. Among the most common terms today, it should be noted such categories as “artificial intelligence” and “robotics”, which are undoubtedly becoming the subject of legal regulation of relations in the field of end-to-end digital technologies.


Author(s):  
Н.С. Хорошавина ◽  
М.С. Абрашкин

Цифровые технологии существенно влияют на мировой рынок, внося коррективы в расстановку сил на нем. Используемые ранее подходы к управлению бизнес-процессами становятся не актуальными в современных условиях. Без цифровизации наукоемкие производства будут не способны выдержать конкурентную борьбу, и вынуждены будут уйти с рынка. В то же время современные условия хозяйствования диктуют необходимость постоянного совершенствования бизнес-процессов наукоемких предприятий, их оптимизации. Данные принципы являются основой концепции бережливое производство, реализация которых становится более эффективной при условии использования цифровых технологий. В статье рассмотрены вопросы интеграции концепции бережливое производство и цифровых технологий на наукоемких предприятиях. Показан пример успешной реализации принципов данной концепции с использованием цифровых подходов к оптимизации бизнес-процессов наукоемкого производства. В современных условиях важнейшим активом любого предприятия, в том числе и наукоемкого производства, являются данные. Реализация принципов бережливого производства требует обработки значительного объема информации. Цифровые технологии позволяют анализировать информационные потоки в режиме реального времени, моделировать бизнес-процессы и тем самым, способствуют более качественному и оперативному принятию решений по оптимизации бизнес-процессов наукоемких производств. Только объединив принципы концепции бережливое производство и возможности, которые дает цифровизация, наукоемкие предприятия смогут не просто удержать свои конкурентные позиции на рынке, но и перейти на более качественный уровень своего развития. Digital technologies significantly affect the global market, making adjustments to the balance of power in it. Previously used approaches to business process management are no longer relevant in modern conditions. Without digitalization, high-tech industries will not be able to withstand competition and will be forced to leave the market. At the same time, modern business conditions dictate the need to constantly improve the business processes of high-tech enterprises and optimize them. These principles are the basis of the concept of lean manufacturing, the implementation of which becomes more effective when using digital technologies. The article deals with the integration of the concept of lean manufacturing and digital technologies in high-tech enterprises. An example of successful implementation of the principles of this concept using digital approaches to optimizing business processes in high-tech production is shown. In modern conditions, the most important asset of any.


Author(s):  
Natalya L. Gagulina ◽  

The article analyzes the institutional provision of the regulatory functions of the state in such areas as artificial intelligence and robotics. The analysis is based on the Concept of the development of regulation of relations in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies until 2024. Among the problematic areas of regulation are the restriction of competition, the loss of flexibility in economic relations and the market disequilibrium. It is shown that the solution of these problems requires an integrated approach. So, to implement the concept of “smart city”, it is necessary not only to weaken or remove regulatory barriers, but also to use additional tools that have already applied in the world practice. An opportunity of applying of theoretical and methodological base of quality economics is considered. The solution to a significant part of the problems of digitalization of the region’s economy is the use in the management of the development of the “smart city” the international standard “Sustainable cities and Communities – Indicators for smart cities”.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-147
Author(s):  
Dalia Augustinaitė

The context of the concept of modern burial traditions is an inseparable from religion, which is a base to convey natural customs of the unique culture using numinous values. In the sense of allegory, burial character conveys immortality vision. Therefore there are many variations of interpretation in different cultures at a different time. A fundamental change of burial typology and architecture happens due to the changes of the life style. Scientific advance is the most fateful thing, which changes the attitude towards the functionality as well as to creativity in the burial sector. Due to the postmodernism, an exceptional, relatively separate form of the burial – virtual information bases of the dead, also actual as an alternative direction of the applied art to visual expression, have been formed on the basis of digital technologies. Essential objects of today‘s burial space topic are identified as a holistic optimisation of the consumerism, full-fledged integration of burial spaces in modern urbanistic structures and formation of multicultures. The solutions of this topic usually come through the multifunction of burial territories, burial nature and multifunction of architecture, as well as universal application, the priority of stable creation of the environment, including the search of the new typological alternatives of the burial. The components of burial space formation, significant to Lithuania, more or less match the global situation. Therefore, it is favourable for the state to take more objective account of the viable long-term juridical base and policy of burial space planning, the strategy of which would not lack of national features of heritage protection, however, using architecture as a means, would convey memorial persistent value and significance of the commemoration of the dead in a modern and creative way. Šiame straipsnyje atskleidžiami kone dažniausiai taikytini šiuolaikinių laidojimo alternatyvų tipai ir jų vystymosi perspektyvoje tendencijos, aktualios architektūros formavimo principams, įskaitant ir kūrybingumą bei ryšį su Religija. Ateities kapinių vizija analizuojama siejant su laidojimo pobūdžiu, racionaliomis mirties įprasminimo ir laidojimo zonų integravimo urbanistinėje erdvėje galimybėmis bei velionio įamžinimu. Nagrinėjamos sritys, reikšmingos holistinei globaliai laidojimo erdvių problematikai, yra reikšmingos Lietuvos Respublikos religiniam diskursui pagal galiojančius nacionalinius dokumentus religinės situacijos bei įstatyminės bazės apimtyje.


Author(s):  
Louise LePage

AbstractStage 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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. eaaz0330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziyi Guo ◽  
Joseph J. Richardson ◽  
Biao Kong ◽  
Kang Liang

Nanobiohybrids, synthesized by integrating functional nanomaterials with living systems, have emerged as an exciting branch of research at the interface of materials engineering and biological science. Nanobiohybrids use synthetic nanomaterials to impart organisms with emergent properties outside their scope of evolution. Consequently, they endow new or augmented properties that are either innate or exogenous, such as enhanced tolerance against stress, programmed metabolism and proliferation, artificial photosynthesis, or conductivity. Advances in new materials design and processing technologies made it possible to tailor the physicochemical properties of the nanomaterials coupled with the biological systems. To date, many different types of nanomaterials have been integrated with various biological systems from simple biomolecules to complex multicellular organisms. Here, we provide a critical overview of recent developments of nanobiohybrids that enable new or augmented biological functions that show promise in high-tech applications across many disciplines, including energy harvesting, biocatalysis, biosensing, medicine, and robotics.


2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 328-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naoko Abe ◽  
Jean-Paul Laumond ◽  
Paolo Salaris ◽  
Florent Levillain

This article raises the issue of collaboration between the field of dance and that of robotics. Dance notation systems are developed in the choreographic field as a method to describe and record human movements. Translating movements into symbols is of particular concern for computer science and robotics, which are interested in generating anthropomorphic motions in robots or animated avatars. We examine different research projects on the use of Laban notation for this purpose, and present our own attempt at generating dance movements in a humanoid robot from a Laban score. We discuss the interests and difficulties related to the use of a dance notation system in a robotic context.


Author(s):  
N. B. Strekalova ◽  
O. I. Podulybina

The article provides an overview of trends in the digital economy that affect the professional training of a modern specialist. The essence of the concept of digitalization and its main components are determined, the author's interpretation of this concept is given. Particular attention is paid to the signs of a digital economy: the presence of a high-tech IT infrastructure, processing of big data based on modern digital technologies, the creation of digital solutions (products, platforms), the design of new business models. A theoretical analysis of scientific literature was carried out and a list of competencies that a specialist in the digital economy should possess was identified. To confirm the results obtained, an analysis of the opinions of employers was carried out, on the basis of which the most significant competencies and professional qualities of a specialist in the digital economy were identified. Based on the results of the analysis of employers' requirements for modern specialists, the tasks of vocational education for the training of a specialist in the digital economy were identified.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-137
Author(s):  
V. N. Voronin

Despite the awareness of the importance of digital transformation of highways as the basis for life safety, social and economic development of the country, the issues of technical, legal and financial regulation of the digitalization of the transport complex at the federal and regional levels, a detailed assessment of the impact of digital technologies in transport on social and economic processes in modern Russian society. In the Russian doctrine in recent years, research has been carried out in general on the formation and development of the digital economy in Russia, in which intelligent transport systems are mentioned pointwise and only in general terms without their comprehensive analysis. Based on the assessment of the current state and trends in the development of info-communication transport infrastructure in Russia, foreign experience, potential problems of the implementation of digital technologies in transport in the socioeconomic and legal dimension were identified, specific proposals were formulated on the legal and financial regulation of issues and minimization of the risks of liability for harm in conditions development of information transport systems. The role of the programs “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation” and “Safe and High-Quality Roads” in the development of intelligent transport systems has been analyzed, and as a result, promising areas for the use of unmanned vehicles to improve the quality of life of people, develop entrepreneurship, high-tech industries, and increase the investment attractiveness of Russia have been identified. and strengthening its position in the international arena. The study used the following methodological principles: objectivity; determinism; historicism; integrity; consistency; structure; functionality; hierarchy; pluralism of explanation and understanding of law; comparative studies. The study uses private methods: legal analytics, legislative techniques, legal comparative studies, expert assessments. As the main results of the study, the features of the legal regulation of new and promising relations arising in the digital economy have been identified. This is a strategic legal planning and legal experiment. Taking into account this conclusion, a system of prerequisites for the development of intelligent transport systems was formulated based on the analysis of national programs. The system of prerequisites includes three levels: technological prerequisites, infrastructural and regulatory.


Lex Russica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 63-70
Author(s):  
M. A. Zheludkov

Underestimation of the importance of solving problems in law enforcement agencies in the context of the use of new digital technologies by criminals may lead to the situation when high-tech crime does not replace traditional forms of theft, but may result in a sharp hypoxia of preventive activities, which will lack the planned law enforcement resources and means of responding to emerging threats. The relevance of the paper lies in the fact that when assessing the use of modern digital technologies in scientific literature and regulatory support, special emphasis is placed on specific data functions of technologies to automatically analyze a set of data and with the help of a set of algorithms to make decisions on optimization of processes and activities, that is, the ability to simplify human relationships. However, the experience of law enforcement has shown that the lack of law enforcement support for protecting the society from negative use of technology leads to the fact that the response now follows the criminal consequences of their use of technologies. The creation of artificial intelligence (AI) systems has led to serious social changes, there is a kind of transformation of public relations under the influence of the digital economy, which inevitably creates the prerequisites for the emergence of specific criminal behavior. The paper provides for a brief analysis of information from open sources about the possibilities of criminal use of artificial intelligence. The author aims to analyze the various possibilities of creating a new model of protection against cybercrime under the control of law enforcement agencies in the context of new threats caused by criminal use of AI technology and the new industrial revolution.


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