Photo: Maurice Mikkers & Jan-Jaap Heine
Dr. Schärfe doesn’t need to attend tedious events or functions. He has Geminoid-DK – a tele-operated android replica to cover for him. Dr. Schärfe even let his Geminoid host a party in his house that he couldn’t attend. His neighbors not only showed up, but the empty beer bottles on the table signified that they had a great time together. In another situation, as Dr. Schärfe puts his Geminoid in the passenger seat when he needs to mobilize across town, people recognize the android and wave hello to him.
Dr. Schärfe’s Geminoid Lab is set up as an observation lab aimed to research the influence of technology on our mundane lives and our self awareness – bodily and holistically. Schärfe describes the Geminoid as his body number 2 and as the ultimate thinking tool – allowing him to observe his own existence outside-in.
Schärfe notes that the human existence consists of the fact that wherever you are, you will always be somewhere. You might get lost, but you are always somewhere. Part of being a human is to be. But thats a bit different when we’re with someone else; we might sometimes have the sensation that the other person isn’t really there. Although this issue is a fundamental aspect of being human, we don’t have the language to talk about being more, or less, present. What Schärfe is talking about is blended presence where he can be present, or absent, in two places at the same time.
Having an android helps him understand the essence of uniqueness of the human body and presence. On one hand, people will realize it’s a robot, but on the other hand it has a human form. Their reaction is to the blended presence of the two concepts. Schärfe gets a lot of reactions to the Geminoid youtube video, many of them are based in religion or politics, but many are very personal. During his public appearances, people are interested and have fun, but children find his human representation overwhelming. They find him spooky, but when his operating systems (breathing etc) are shut down and he’s just a doll or a toy, they find it more comprehensible.
A question that arises a lot about the Geminoid is “robot romance” – Schärfe sees a situation in the future where we can have some sort of emotional relationship with them, but making something you can actually love, want to give up anything for – he doesn’t foresee that as a viable future.
His final message for the audience: “For the kids: robots are cool, stay in school. For adults: be sure to be wherever you are…”
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