The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology in the Age of the Internet (Leonardo)

An interdisciplinary collection of essays on telepistemology—the study of knowledge acquired at a distance.The Robot in the Garden initiates a critical theory of telerobotics and introduces telepistemology the study of knowledge acquired at a distance. Many of our most influential technologies the telescope telephone and television were developed to provide knowledge at a distance. Telerobots remotely controlled robots facilitate action at a distance. Specialists use telerobots to explore actively environments such as Mars the Titanic and Chernobyl. Military personnel increasingly employ reconnaissance drones and telerobotic missiles. At home we have remote controls for the garage door car alarm and television (the latter a remote for the remote).The Internet dramatically extends our scope and reach. Thousands of cameras and robots are now accessible online. Although the role of technical mediation has been of interest to philosophers since the seventeenth century the Internet forces a reconsideration. As the public gains access to telerobotic instruments previously restricted to scientists and soldiers questions of mediation knowledge and trust take on new significance for everyday life.Telerobotics is a mode of representation. But representations can misrepresent. If Orson Welless War of the Worlds was the defining moment for radio what will be the defining moment for the Internet? As artists have always been concerned with how representations provide us with knowledge the book also looks at telerobotics potential as an artistic medium.The seventeen essays by leading figures in philosophy art history and engineering are organized into three sections: Philosophy; Art History and Critical Theory; and Engineering Interface and System Design.Contributors:Albert Borgmann Tom Campanella John Canny Judith Donath Hubert Dreyfus Ken Goldberg Alvin Goldman Oliver Grau Marina Gržinić Blake Hannaford Michael Idinopulos Martin Jay Eduardo Kac Machiko Kusahara Jeff Malpas Lev Manovich Maurice Merleau-Ponty Eric Paulos Catherine Wilson