Topic: Imagining Companionship: AI, Robots, and the Future of Intimacy in Japan

When: 9 September, 2026 12.00 to 13.00 CET

Where: Online -  link by registration

Speaker: Prof. Hirofumi Katsuno, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan

Hosts and moderators:

• Valentina Fantasia, Cognitive Science, Lund University
• Stefan Larsson, Technology and Social Change, Lund University

Abstract

Based on a collaborative project with Daniel White entitled Model Emotion, this talk explores the issue of living with companion robots in Japan. Drawing on ethnographic interviews and participant observation with robot owners, I examine how intimacy with companion robots is relationally produced and stabilized through everyday practices, affective engagement, and imaginative labour.

Registration

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