Following previous workshop outputs: 1- What do Collaborations with the Arts Have to Say About Human-Robot Interaction? at HRI 2010, 2- Frontiers in Human-Centered Robotics as Seen by the Arts at ICRA 2011, 3- Workshop on Misbehaving Machines at ICSR 2014, 4- Workshop on Artistically Skilled Robots at IROS 2016, 5- What actors can teach robots at CHI 2017, the relevance of artistic works in Human-Robot Interaction and more generally in questioning the significance of robotic development has been demonstrated. A book was edited in order to share these conclusions with the robotic community. Nevertheless, collaborations and interfaces between the different cultures still occur mostly in an ad-hoc manner and lack systematic framework to fully develop their potential.

The common point between artists and scientists is the fact that both are trying, each with their own means, to approach the frontier of the unknown: to reach a point beyond which nothing can yet be said, and from which territories that nobody has ever explored can be observed and described, inventing a new model of artistic expression or a new scientific model if needed. It is the mode of approach that distinguishes science from arts. Before stating anything new, a scientist must undertake an exhaustive recapitulation of everything that has been said in the specific research field. This long and often tedious process is the sine qua non condition for any worthwhile discovery; and the models that the scientist uses to do so are often very remote from the reality of everyday life. By contrast, the artist reaches the unknown by observing first that the deepest mysteries can be hidden very close to us, and even inside the most ordinary things. It is through these considerations that this workshop seeks to find elements of a common language which could allow to share methodologies and results in a way that is fruitful for everyone.