Hello, robot

de Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Mateo Kries, Amelie Klein

"Hello, Robot. Design between Human and Machine" investigates how robotics is increasingly becoming part of our everyday lives. The exhibition shows that design in its traditional function as a mediator is indispensable if robots are to become a visible reality and not just remain hidden in washing machines, cars and cash machines. The catalogue points out where we already encounter these intelligent machines and where we may come across them in the near future: in the industry, in the military and in everyday settings; at nurseries and retirement homes; in our bodies and in the cloud; when shopping and having sex; in video games and, of course, in film and literature. In a series of in-depth essays and interviews, experts such as science-fiction author Bruce Sterling or the design duo Dunne & Raby explore the question of how we deal with an environment that is rapidly becoming more digital, smarter and more autonomous. They highlight our often ambivalent relationship to new technologies and discuss the opportunities and challenges that present themselves to us as individuals and as a society in this context. In this regard, "Hello, Robot" broadens the scope of the discussion to include the ethical and political questions with which we are faced today in the light of technological advances in robotics, while confronting us with the contradictions that are often found in the answers to these questions.