Room: STG-7  
  
Guy Hoffman, Uri Aviv  
  
In the beginning was the word / Uri Aviv The word robot was first coined less than a century ago in Karel Čapek’s science fiction play, Rossum's Universal Robots. Čapek’s robots however were biological and humanoid, and we would not consider them robots today. Through reflections on the word itself, we’ll discuss the role science fiction plays in forming our perception of science, technology and the future. Designing the Robotic User Experience / Guy Hoffman Soon, robots are expected to enter our homes, offices, schools, and nursing homes, our hospitals, battlefields, construction sites, and repair shops. How do we go about designing the user experience for machines that have the most evocative (and ancient) communicative interface: a physical body, moving in space? Also, what can theater acting, Jazz improvisation, and animation teach us to achieve the best robotic user experience? &nbsp; In collaboration with the Tel-Aviv Utopia Festival


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Back in Time – Censorship in Southeast Asia making a comeback in 2015

The  [**re:publica**](https://re-publica.de/) is one of the largest and most exciting conferences about digital culture in the world. Since its foundation in&nbsp;2007, it has grown from a cozy blogger meeting with 700 participants into a wide-ranging “society conference”, with more than&nbsp;6000&nbsp;visitors&nbsp;annually. Representatives of digital culture share their knowledge and decision-making tools, and discuss the future of the information society. Here they can mingle with activists, scientists, hackers, entrepreneurs, NGOs, journalists, social media and marketing experts, and many others. This fosters innovation and creates synergies between net politics, online marketing, network technology, digital society, and (pop) culture. What is more, around&nbsp;40 percent&nbsp;of re:publicaparticipants&nbsp;are&nbsp;female&nbsp;– far more than at many other similar events.

So&nbsp;this year’s&nbsp;edition is going to be exciting again: We are expecting some&nbsp;450 speakers&nbsp;from more than&nbsp;45 countries&nbsp;for re:publica 2015 – three days of celebration and debate with some of the most important trailblazers and forward thinkers of the Internet, packed with&nbsp;300 hours&nbsp;ofprogramme&nbsp;from a wide range of topics from politics, economy, science, society and culture.

Of course, our broad focus on issues related to the digital society – from net politics and technological innovations, music, culture and media, to health and education – has convinced sponsors and partners alike. Again, we’ve formed a close partnership with the [MEDIA CONVENTION Berlin](http://mediaconventionberlin.com/), the defining congress for the international media industry,&nbsp;which started with the same event space last year. For this year, the collaboration is intensified with one ticket for both events.

**re:publica** hosts various sub-conferences: In 2015 there is a renewed collaboration with the German Science Year 2015 with "City of the Future". The Global Innovation Gathering (GIG) sub-conference is already in its third year, this time supported by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation, GIZ, and the Vodafone Institute. And there is even more to be explored in new sub- conferences, e.g. the one-day Wearables sub-conference #FASHIONTECH BERLIN in collaboration with [PREMIUM International Fashion Trade Show](https://www2.premiumexhibitions.com/).
Produced by Voice Republic

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