Social Robotics Agenda:
a strategic innovation area

The Social Robotics Agenda is a guide for Swedish innovation in a field of human-centred technologies that will have a transformative impact on many aspects of society, industry and daily life. Robots have entered the human environments from which they were previously barred, and their presence in these environments will only increase with time. These robots must be socially aware; they must know how to communicate on human terms and how to act safely in the vicinity of humans; otherwise we are likely facing a future where humans accommodate and serve machines rather than the other way around.

The social robotics agenda brings together researchers, innovators, and user representatives to allow a matching of the needs of humans with the affordances of technologies to guide technology development and research. It paves the way for the necessary rejuvenation, mobilization and trans-boundary collaboration. It provides the strategic path ahead that will allow Sweden to grab a unique opportunity and become a key player in a field that will change the way we lead our lives and the environments in which we live – the new, intriguing and highly interdisciplinary area of social robotics.

The social robotics agenda was developed in a project led by KTH and funded by VINNOVA, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas. It is a result of cooperation between the following 35 partners:
Industry: ABB, Artificial Solutions, Ericsson, Furhat robotics, Intelligent Machines, Liquid Media, TeliaSonera
Academia: Göteborgs universitet, Högskolan i Skövde, Karolinska Institutet, KTH, Linköpings universitet, Lunds tekniska högskola, Lunds Universitet, Röda korsets högskola, Stockholms Universtitet, Uppsala Universitet, Örebro universitet
Public sector: Institutet för Framtidsstudier, Myndigheten för Delaktighet, Myndigheten för Tillgängliga Medier, Statens medicinsk-etiska råd, Robotdalen, SLL Innovation, Språkrådet
End-user organisations: Brostaden, Epicenter, EF Education First, Fryshuset Gymnasium, Hamnskolan, Investor, Kunskapsskolan, Silver Life, Svenskt demenscentrum, Tekniska Museet

Agenda project key persons: Project leader: Joakim Gustafson (KTH)
Peje Emilsson (Silver Life), Jan Gulliksen (KTH), Mikael Hedelind (ABB),
Danica Kragic (KTH), Per Ljunggren (Intelligent Machines), Amy Loutfi (Örebro university),
Erik Lundqvist (Robotdalen), Stefan Stern (Investor) Karl-Erik Westman (MFD), Britt Östlund (KTH)

The agenda in pdf format here


VINNOVA Strategic innovation areas
Links to videos of robot of today