<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> </head> <body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""> <blockquote type="cite" class=""> <div class=""> <div class="" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">* * * * * * *</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">International Journal of Social Robotics: Call for papers for the special issue on:</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">VIRTUOUS ROBOTICS: ARTIFICIAL AGENTS AND THE GOOD LIFE</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">* * * * * * *</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">GUEST EDITORS</b></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Massimiliano Cappuccio (UAE University and University of New South Wales)</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Omar Mubin (Western Sydney University)</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Mohammad Obaid (University of New South Wales)</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Eduardo Benitez Sandoval (University of New South Wales)</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Mari Velonaki (University of New South Wales)</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">SUBMISSION DEADLINE</b></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Expression of interest and tentative abstract submission: 2 January 2019 [Optional] </span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Full paper submission deadline: <b class="">1 March 2019</b></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">First review notification: 1 May 2019</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Revised paper submission: 1 July 2019</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Final notice of acceptance/rejection: 1 September 2019</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Online First Publication: 1st October 2019</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">THEME</b></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Can robotics play a moral role in the life of humans? In addition to providing practical benefits to the users, can interaction with social robots fortify the users’ moral dispositions and instill new ethical principles? Can robotic companions help us correct our bad habits and promote new values? While the discussion on the moral risks implied by social robotics is certainly important and timely, addressing the opposite side of the story as well is crucial. It is plausible that, when responsibly designed, robots could actively promote positive moral dispositions and true ethical awareness in humans.</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">This special issue of the International Journal of Social Robotics seeks to explore from a multidisciplinary perspective the idea that, if effectively programmed for pedagogical, training, and self-development purposes, robots could be used to cultivate good habits, learn to manage negative emotions like anger and envy, and practice positive attitudes towards others, such as respect, care, and friendliness. If this hypothesis is correct, then properly designed robots could facilitate moral flourishing in humans, making us wiser and gentler people, with more decent and realized lifestyles.</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">TOPICS</b></span></div> <ul class=""> <li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Good or bad teachers</b>: can robots affect positively or negatively the moral behavior and values of humans? What forms of human-robot interaction can best solicit the development of virtues in humans?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Biases and diversity</b>: can robots convey or reinforce prejudices? If so, can robots be used to dispel existing biases or discriminatory and racist tendencies, promoting more diverse views through a correct representation of minorities?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Embodied presence and moral example</b>: if robots can affect the moral behavior and values of humans, how much of this depends on the embodied appearance and the physical presence of the robot?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Promoting self-development</b>: robots playing the roles of coaches, trainers, and counsellors. What are the most effective designs and the most promising applications?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Trust, acceptance, tolerance</b>: how accepting robot companionship into our social lives changes our lifestyle and redefines our priorities, loading it with new responsibilities and obligations.</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Moral consideration for robots</b>: how should virtuous humans treat their robots? Should cruel and disrespectful behaviors toward robots be discouraged or forbidden?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Slavery and autonomy</b>: are humans going to develop vicious and cruel dispositions when they conceptualize their social robots as slaves? Can a dominant position boost the sense of entitlement? Should humans respect to some extent the autonomy and independency of their social robots?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Artificial moral agency and synthetic virtues</b>: can robots develop a positive character? Can they learn virtues from the examples given by humans? Should robots be free to autonomously develop their own ethical principles and values, departing from the human example?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">The nature of moral character</b>: some experimental results in social psychology suggest that moral character does not exist as such, or anyway does not play a significant role in ethical decision, which strongly depends on situational contingencies. Can social robots be used to update the traditional notion of character in a way that is compatible with the experimental results?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Robots and the good life</b>: does the notion of lifestyle apply to artificial agents, and should they aspire to a better and more fulfill one? What are the existential priorities, preferences, and goals of a robot?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Intimate robots</b>: can intimacy with robots corrupt one’s sentimental education, distorting one’s expectations about the partner? Can sex robots be used in a clinical context to correct pervert tendencies?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Educational robots and discipline</b>: will robot maids and servants make children lazy and arrogant? Should robots be allowed to scold and reproach, chastise, or even punish humans?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Violent games</b>: does violence on robots reinforce sadistic and cruel tendencies? Can violence on robots be used cathartically, to remove frustrations and overcome brutal instincts?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Empathizing with robots</b>: is it possible to design robots to solicit compassion and empathy in humans? Are human emotions comparable to the emotions expressed by robots? Is the human empathy for robots essentially different from the empathy that humans experience for other living agents?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">The human-robot bond</b>: is it desirable and morally acceptable to build robots designed to elicit attachment and strong emotions in humans?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Synthetic eudaimonia</b>: what roles will be played by robots in fulfilling the human aspiration to happiness, serenity, psycho-physical well-being? Is there a theoretical or practical relationship between the applications of service robotics that aim to human happiness and those that aim to moral development?</span></li><li class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">Evaluation methods and user study approaches</b>: how do we measure fluctuations in human dispositions, personality development, and accentuation of character traits during and post robotic interaction? What scoring systems, sensor apparati, and inferential routines are most effective to track the ongoing transformations of attitude and lifestyle in an individual or in a group?</span></li></ul> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">EXTENDED TOPIC DESCRIPTION</b></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 105, 217);"> <span class="" style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://dhrg.uws.edu.au/robots-ai-confr/international-journal-of-social-robotics-cfp/" class="">https://dhrg.uws.edu.au/robots-ai-confr/international-journal-of-social-robotics-cfp/</a></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">SUBMISSION AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS</b></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 105, 217);"> <span class="" style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-font-kerning: none;"><a href="https://www.springer.com/engineering/control/journal/12369" class="">https://www.springer.com/engineering/control/journal/12369</a></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">RECOMMENDED LENGHT</b></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">The expected length is 9-12 pages, for a total of 6-7000 words (if the submitted paper includes only text). The paper should not exceed 8000 words in length, including bibliographical references and notes.</span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;"> <span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"></span><br class=""> </div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;"><b class="">CONTACT DETAILS</b></span></div> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="" style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;">Massimiliano Cappuccio: <a href="mailto:M.Lorenzo@uaeu.ac.ae" class="">M.Lorenzo@uaeu.ac.ae</a></span></div> </div> </div> </blockquote> <div class=""> <div class=""> <div class="" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"> <div class="" style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br class=""> </div> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>