hitchBOT creators: ‘We’ve learned a lot about human empathy’
While hitchBOT’s 2015 summer adventure is over, its creators are considering a number of options, including: re-building hitchBOT and sending it back to Philadelphia, where it would continue on its journey in 2016; or introducing a hitchBOT to schools and allowing school children to devise new robot adventures.
The U.S. trip of Canada’s first hitchhiking robot, hitchBOT, came to an abrupt end during the early morning hours of Aug. 1 in Philadelphia.
Its journey, which began July 17 in Massachusetts, was intended to take it to the Exploratorium in San Francisco, crossing off bucket list items along the way.
According to social media reports, hitchBOT spent a night out in Philadelphia on Friday, July 31. It was left on a bench in a popular tourist area in the early morning hours of Saturday, Aug. 1, presumably waiting for its next ride.
It was then that hitchBOT fell into the wrong hands and was unfortunately destroyed. A fake surveillance video, which showed someone destroying the robot, was subsequently created. The body, which was found by some of hitchBOT’s fans, is in the process of being sent back to its family in Canada.
The hitchBOT team has no interest in pressing charges or in finding the people who vandalized the robot.
“As researchers, we wanted to know, ‘can robots trust humans?’ We knew there would always be the possibility that hitchBOT would be damaged or stolen,” says David Harris Smith, an assistant professor in the Department of Communications Studies and Multimedia, and hitchBOT’s co-creator.
“Even though it did end badly for hitchBOT, we’ve learned a lot about human empathy and trust everything we’ve learned will be borne out in the resulting research and used in future planning for hitchBOT’s adventures.”
hitchBOT’s supporters from across the globe have offered their assistance and support in many ways – from helping to find hitchBOT’s missing parts or building a new bot to providing financial support.
This outpouring has ultimately shown hitchBOT’s creators how well-loved the happy traveler was.
“We are grateful for the responses we’ve received from friends and fans around the world, all of which have been overwhelmingly supportive and kind,” says Frauke Zeller, an assistant professor at Ryerson University and co-creator of hitchBOT.
“hitchBOT always relied on the kindness of strangers and it did receive an astounding amount of help and support.”
While hitchBOT’s 2015 summer adventure is over, its creators are considering a number of options, including: re-building hitchBOT and sending it back to Philadelphia, where it would continue on its journey in 2016; or introducing a hitchBOT to schools and allowing school children to devise new robot adventures.
