Amir BastanTransference in ParallelDynamics in Human-Robot Interaction
This research investigates the complexities of human–robot interaction (HRI) within the context of media art, proposing new conceptual tools to better understand, analyse, and design interactive systems that involve machines, artificial intelligence, and robotic systems. As interactive technologies increasingly mediate our aesthetic and affective experiences, conventional models of interactivity, often based on turn-taking, stimulus-response cycles, or linear causality, prove insufficient for describing the layered dynamics that unfold in artistic human–machine encounters.
Focusing on media art installations that incorporate robotics, machine learning, and algorithmic behaviours, this research suggests a theoretical framework grounded in psychoanalytic theory. Drawing on concepts from Lacanian psychoanalysis, the project introduces three key dimensions of interactivity: self-interaction (reflective processes within the subject), quasi-interactions (culturally scripted or unconscious responses that appear spontaneous), and parallel interactions (simultaneous internal and external processes unfolding across human and non-human agents). These categories aim to capture the entangled, multi-layered nature of contemporary interactive experiences, particularly where meaning emerges rather than being explicitly programmed.
Alongside the theoretical contribution, this research introduces Bunraku, a bespoke robot control library developed to support artistic experimentation with interactivity, timing, and affect in human–machine systems. Named after the Japanese puppet theatre tradition, where manipulators are visibly present yet intentionally ignored, Bunraku foregrounds the tension between control and simulation in interactive design. The software enables artists and researchers to design complex interaction scenarios, using physical robots with generative behaviours in real-time.
By combining psychoanalytic theory, media art practice, and system design, this thesis presents a new vocabulary for describing and producing human–robot interactions that are affective, emergent, and reflective of the unconscious structures that shape our engagements with machines. It contributes to both the theory and practice of artistic robotics and invites deeper reflection on the desires and projections that animate our technologically mediated encounters.
Supervision
Johannes Braumann
Short Bio
Amir Bastan is an artist and researcher with a background in fine arts, philosophy, and interaction design. His work explores human consciousness, artificial intelligence, and robotics within media arts and interactivity frameworks.
Currently a doctoral researcher at Creative Robotics and lecturer at the University of Arts Linz, Amir’s research focuses on “The Human Robot Transference,” which examines connections between psychoanalysis theories and human-robot interaction.
Through his academic and artistic practice, Amir has developed expertise in real-time robotic control and simulation as part of The Bunraku Project, a software which enables real-time control, visualization, and simulation of industrial robots.
His interests are analysing human-robot interactions and understanding how contextual properties affect human behaviour. Amir’s research focuses on creating a dynamic framework that can observe and categorize actions within an interactivity framework, interpreting the factors driving behavioural changes in advanced interactive systems.
