Technology is not neutral, so neither are robots, especially those in manufacturing and industrial environments. Through co-creation between artists, technology partners and manufacturers, Vojext addresses topics like automation of labour, autonomous machines, environmental intelligence, and other that contribute to today’s societal and also environmental challenges.
The European Vojext project aims at providing a business and technological framework to enable matchmaking and encourage producers and adopters of autonomous systems for human-robot interaction, dynamizing science-driven approaches for the European industry. Within such context, Waag will contribute wider societal and personal perspectives addressing human-machine relations in manufacturing environments.
Beside main objectives, this project contributes also to the European S+T+ARTS initiative, bridging science, technologies and arts in a creative and critical confrontations with societal challenges and global concerns. Within STARTS, artists already researched human-robot interaction through trans-human expression, biobots made of soft tissues, e-textile workware that makes decisions for workers, reactive matter, and cyber-species proximity with emotional exchange between humans and robots. With Vojext, Waag will open opportunities for three more residencies in the next three years.
