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About

Benjamin Lipp is a sociologist and science and technology studies (STS) researcher whose work centers on the intersections of robotics, care, and human-machine relations. He has established himself as a leading critical voice in the emerging field of care robotics, examining how robotic technologies are developed, demonstrated, and deployed within health and elder care settings. His most widely cited work, "A critique of robotics in health care" (2021, 102 citations), challenges the prevailing narrative that care robots offer straightforward solutions to nursing shortages, interrogating both their technological readiness and social implications. Building on this, his influential article "Caring for robots" (2022, 71 citations) investigates the often-invisible socio-material practices through which humans and machines are made to interface, coining the concept of "human-machine interfacing" as an analytical lens. Lipp further develops this framework in explorations of techno-bio-politics and user-driven innovation, revealing how power, policy, and embodied practice shape technological development. His theoretical contributions draw creatively on Karen Barad's agential realism and discourse analysis, offering students and researchers rich conceptual tools for understanding how care, materiality, and technology become entangled in prototype laboratories and policy arenas alike.