Creative Action at a Distance: A Conceptual Framework for Embodied Performance With Robotic Actors
This work addresses the problem of enhancing creativity in robotic storytelling for researchers in robotics and performance studies, though it is incremental as it builds on existing theories without presenting new empirical results.
The authors tackled the challenge of enabling robotic actors to perform creatively by interpreting scripts rather than following them slavishly, proposing a conceptual framework that combines movement theory and emotionally-grounded choices to elevate scripted performances into creative ones.
Acting, stand-up and dancing are creative, embodied performances that nonetheless follow a script. Unless experimental or improvised, the performers draw their movements from much the same stock of embodied schemas. A slavish following of the script leaves no room for creativity, but active interpretation of the script does. It is the choices one makes, of words and actions, that make a performance creative. In this theory and hypothesis article, we present a framework for performance and interpretation within robotic storytelling. The performance framework is built upon movement theory, and defines a taxonomy of basic schematic movements and the most important gesture types. For the interpretation framework, we hypothesise that emotionally-grounded choices can inform acts of metaphor and blending, to elevate a scripted performance into a creative one. Theory and hypothesis are each grounded in empirical research, and aim to provide resources for other robotic studies of the creative use of movement and gestures.