On 3 December 2025, SRF IRIS collaborated with Cyber Valley in a panel discussion at the Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation 2025 in Stuttgart. The 75-minute panel explored how telepresence robots are reshaping scientific communication and challenged conventional understandings of presence, participation, and authenticity in public engagement with science.
Moderated by Janis-Anne Fischer (Cyber Valley), the panel examined what it means to be “present” when representation is mediated by technology. Using a hybrid format that combined physically present speakers with a robotically connected participant, the discussion addressed key questions around credibility, proximity, inclusion, and trust in technology-mediated communication.
Panelists discussed telepresence robots as more than technical tools: as instruments of participation, experiments in mediated interaction, and provocations that surface ethical and social questions. Topics included platform logics, responsibility in hybrid formats, and the balance between technical innovation and human encounter. An interactive audience poll centered on the guiding question:
"Are robots sufficient for genuine encounters – or do we still need the human body?”
The panel brought together interdisciplinary perspectives from communication research, human-computer interaction, and AI research:
- Prof. Dr. Maria Wirzberger, University of Stuttgart, Interchange Forum for Reflecting on Intelligent Systems (IRIS)
- Prof. Dr. Michael Sedlmaier, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems
- Dr. Philipp Müller, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
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Sierra Kaiser, Coordinator of IRIS, filling in for Dr. Ksenia Keplinger, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems
The session highlighted how communication robots can lower barriers to participation while simultaneously raising critical questions about embodiment, agency, and social presence. The collaboration with Cyber Valley underscored the importance of cross-institutional dialogue in evaluating emerging technologies not only for what they enable, but for how they reshape scientific communication practices.
