RobotTheater: how can robots become an integral part of theater plays
▶Summary
The RobotTheater project focuses on building a new model of cooperation between the technical, artistic and humanistic fields with the aim of improving the exchange of knowledge and reducing the g...
▶Objectives
The RobotTheater project focuses on building a new model of cooperation between the technical, artistic and humanistic fields with the aim of improving the exchange of knowledge and reducing the gender gap among young people. The main goal of the project is to increase interest in both, robotics and theater, develop innovative learning materials and resources, build educators' capacities, and improve mutual understanding and cooperation between professionals in these fields through interdisciplinary projects. Therefore, the specific objectives of the project are: (1) exchanging good practices among partner countries, (2) providing tools, methodology and approaches to facilitate the acquisition of the necessary skills for learning and teaching about robotics and theater, (3) increasing the interest of teachers in acquiring competencies that they need for multidisciplinary projects involving robotics and theater, (4) developing informal learning aimed at strengthening theater and robotics professionals, and (5) creating a comprehensive guide that includes a methodological framework, video guidelines, and an action and recommendation plan for robotics and theater professionals.
▶Activities
In order to achieve the goals of the project, a whole series of activities was carried out: - work on the preparation of a Comprehensive guide for professionals in the field of robotics and theater. The work itself was carried out in three phases: (1) theoretical background in the field of robotics and theater, and research of literature and existing examples of their interaction, (2) description of practical implementation and advices for creating theatrical performances with robots and (3) action and recommendation plan with a detailed description of the creation of theater performances with robots and advices on how to make the performances realistic and interesting for the audience - two short term joint staff trainings where the capabilities of robots in the theater were tested and seven examples of plays with robots were recorded. The first training was held in Trbovlje, Slovenia, and the second training in Ivanić-Grad, Croatia - two multiplier virtual events in Croatia (110 participants) and two live multiplier events in Slovenia (53 participants) where the target audience was presented with the results of the project, advices and practical examples of how to make theatrical performances with robots.
▶Impact
The concrete output of the project is RobotTheater - Comprehensive guide for professionals, available in three languages: Croatian, Slovenian and English. The Guide is intended for teachers and educators in the field of robotics and informatics, as well as in the field of theater, language and literature. It promotes a multidisciplinary approach and the development of 21st century skills. It consists of seven sections: (1) robots and robotics, (2) theater and theater art, (3) robots in theater, (4) implementation of robots in theater, (5) development of a play with robot-actors, (6) robots, theater and school and (7) educational robots. As additional materials to the Guide, nine theatrical plays with robots have been prepared and recorded, and the recordings are freely available online. Each of these plays uses a different type of robot and the roles of robots and humans in the plays are different, in order to show the full range of possibilities offered by robots in theater. All these examples are described and analyzed in detail in the Guide.