Table 1.
A self-guiding tool to conduct research with embodiment technologies responsibly.
| ANTICIPATION |
| • What are the psychological, ethical, moral, and legal implications that the embodiment technology I am developing could bring? • Could someone use the embodiment technology that I am developing for unintended practices in my or other fields? Who and how? If so, what measures have I developed to mitigate this? • What are the risks and benefits of the embodiment technology that I am developing? How will they be distributed in society if the technology gets implemented? • If I am designing avatars that will interact with other avatars or real people, do I provide enough protection mechanisms to my users so that they can protect their avatars in case of assault? Which ones? • If I am working with physical avatars such as robots that could potentially harm someone in case of technical failure, have I considered emergency mechanisms so that the user can completely stop the action of the avatar or alternative control mechanisms to avoid causing harm to others or to the environment? Which ones? • Who needs to take responsibility if something goes wrong with the embodiment technology that I am developing? • Have I projected potential scenarios in which different aspects go wrong and have I determined who should take responsibility on each case? Which ones? • What aspects of the avatars that I am developing could make them not socially desirable? How can I change that? |
| REFLECTION |
| • Who could be negatively affected by my research with embodiment technologies? How can I change that? • How could the embodiment technology I am developing challenge the rights of future users? How can I avoid that? • Am I equipped with enough knowledge to identify and address the implications of embodiment technologies by myself? If not, what experts could help me and how? • Do I lead or participate in actions oriented at addressing concerns and fears regarding embodiment technologies for the general public? Which ones? Is there anything else I can do? • Do my results contribute to providing useful insights for developers regarding how to commercialize embodiment technologies safely for the society from an ethical point of view? How exactly? Is there anything else I can do to ensure that? • Do my results contribute to providing useful insights for regulators and legislators regarding how to regulate and legislate embodiment technologies? How exactly? Is there anything else I can do to ensure that? • Do I discuss the ethical implications of my results when I report them? • Have I conducted an actor analysis to understand which actors play an essential role for the embodiment technology that I am developing and identify people, industries, institutions, or organizations who can affect or are affected by the technology? • Have I sufficiently reflected on the benefits and risks of the embodiment technology before starting its development: does it honestly and positively contribute to society? How exactly? Is it aimed to resolve a societal challenge? Which one/s? • Have I organized discussion groups with the different stakeholders involved in the embodiment technology that I am working with to discuss potential ethical implications and create awareness of responsibility and accountability? • Am I open to receive criticism and consider skepticism about the embodiment technology or experiments using it and integrate it into my research/design process? What could I do differently to encourage more feedback from the relevant stakeholders? • Does my research with embodiment technologies have long-term consequences that could be potentially negative for society? How can I avoid them? |
| INCLUSION |
| • Am I familiar with the embodiment technologies that other researchers, companies, and start-ups are developing and the experimental work that other researchers are conducting with these technologies? What can I do to know them even better? • Who are the relevant stakeholders in the development of my research in embodiment technologies? Have I included them in the process? How exactly? • Could the virtual and robot avatars that I create cause gender, race, religious or age discrimination? How can I avoid this? • Do I respect the principle of diversity when I design avatars so that I have enough avatar choices that can represent well all potential participants or users and do not create conflict in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and other demographics? (e.g., I have a participant that wears a hijab in real life and does not feel comfortable embodying an avatar that does not, do I have the right type of avatar for her?) How could I increase the range of options to ensure that? • Have I talked directly to the stakeholders that my embodiment technologies target to enquire about how the technology could really improve their quality of life rather than making assumptions about it? (e.g., I am designing a robot avatar for persons with reduced mobility, but I actually never asked them directly if that is something that could be useful for them and how exactly would they want it) Who else should I talk to? • Do I engage the target of the embodiment technologies I design in my R&I processes throughout all the stages? How exactly? What else can I do to ensure that? |
| RESPONSIVENESS |
| • What do I need to do to ensure social desirability for the research I conduct with embodiment technologies? • What training am I receiving to conduct research with embodiment technologies responsibly? • If I encounter ethical conflicts, are there any barriers (e.g., economic interests) that prevent me from changing the course of the development of the embodiment technology? Which ones? What can I do to overcome them? • Is the technology of embodiment that I am developing prepared to evolve with the constantly evolving technological landscape? How exactly? What else can I do to prepare it better in this regard? • Is the technology of embodiment that I am developing responding clearly to current societal needs? To which ones specifically? • If I conduct experiments with embodiment technologies, are they meant to respond to societal needs and challenges? To which ones specifically? |
| TRANSPARENCY |
| • Are the motivations of the embodiment technology that I am developing transparent, honest, and geared toward the public interest? (e.g., I write a grant in which I argue that the embodiment technology will be useful for rescue operations just to get the grant, but I already know it will not be useful) • Am I sharing the results not only with the scientific community but also with the target of the embodiment technology? How am I doing so? • Am I openly sharing the uncertainties and limitations of the embodiment technology that I have developed with the full range of stakeholders as well as in my publications? All of them? (If this is something difficult for me, ask: What is the worst that could happen if I did so?) • Do I share the lessons learned of the research with embodiment technologies with my community (including the negative aspects)? How exactly do I do that? |