My chapter on the design of playful AI and robotics – and the relationships between the material, the technical and the imaginary – is in The Internet of Toys: practices, affordances and the political economy of children’s smart play, edited by Giovanna Mascheroni and Donell Holloway (Palgrave 2019).
Titled ‘Toying with the singularity: AI, automata and imagination in play with robots and virtual pets’, the chapter explores the various and layered ways in which imagination and imaginative processes intersect with the development, promotion and everyday reception of play with new playful digital technologies. It takes the author’s research on the prototyping of a robotic gaming platform as a central case study.
The book is a ‘thought-provoking volume’ (Sonia Livingstone), and ‘a landmark collection’ (Nick Couldry).
