R. D. Lundberg

Papers

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About

R. D. Lundberg is a leading voice in the emerging field of human-robot interaction, specifically focusing on the social and spatial implications of robots in public life. Their research critically examines how autonomous machines reshape our shared environments, moving beyond technical functionality to explore the cultural and political dimensions of robotic presence. Lundberg’s most influential work, “Imagining public space robots of the near-future” (2021, 29 citations), set the stage for this inquiry by probing societal expectations and anxieties. This was followed by the highly regarded “The robotic production of spatiality” (2022, 17 citations), which introduced three foundational logics—predictability, partitioning, and connection—to explain how robots actively construct our experience of space. Most recently, in “Contingent autonomy” (2024), Lundberg developed a groundbreaking framework for understanding robotic autonomy as inherently uncertain and context-dependent, based on participatory workshops where the public designed robot behaviours. This work challenges deterministic views of AI, arguing for a more fluid, relational model of machine agency. Through these contributions, Lundberg has established a new vocabulary for discussing urban robotics, earning recognition as a key theorist of our increasingly automated landscapes.