Case Study: Pepper Robot at the International Theater Festival

Pepper, a robot "actor" from Romania, becomes the image of the International Theater Festival for the Young Audience Iași 2021 - Case Study

"It was the sensation of the edition!" - Oltița Cîntec, Artistic Director of FITPTI and the Luceafărul Theater in Iași

In October 2021, we had the honor of being invited by Ms. Oltița Cîntec, Artistic Director of FITPTI and the Luceafărul Theater in Iași, to participate in the 14th edition of the International Theater Festival for Young Audiences Iași 2021, together with the Pepper robot. The theme of the edition, "art and technology", represented for the IRIS Robotics team an opportunity to join the artistic act with the latest robotics technologies, so that the audience's experience is new, unexpected and full of curiosity. This case study presents some key takeaways from the event, which we hope will be useful to those considering whether or how they might "adopt" a Pepper robot in their commercial, cultural, or educational work.

About the Iași International Theater Festival for Young Audiences, XIV edition.

"During 10 days (October 1-10, 2021), the Iași International Theater Festival for Young Audiences (14th edition) brought together under the sign of the conjunction art-technology artists from 11 countries (Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Switzerland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Great Britain, Romania, Spain), over 85 performances (indoor, outdoor, online, on air) and over 100 events (conferences, book launches, debates, workshops, exhibitions, etc.). It was a very successful edition! Unanimously appreciated also because of the original theme, such a current topic, and because of the points in the program. We went to 20 places in the city (indoor, outdoor), everywhere where performance art could be done and we could meet the public. The degree of occupancy of the halls was 98 percent (at 50 percent of the maximum capacity, as decided by the public health authorities, due to the pandemic).  Many of the events were sold out only a few hours after the tickets went on sale. Regarding the outdoor events, it is really difficult to estimate how many people attended them. We had theater on stage, on the street, in shop windows, radio theater, accessible theater for people with hearing and sight impairments, immersive installations received through VR glasses, online improvisation moderated by artificial intelligence, theater made on a text written by a robot, exhibitions, conferences, book launches, workshops, demonstrations made by robots, etc. In the conditions in which many theater festivals were cancelled, we achieved a real feat. Pepper contributed significantly to it!”

- Oltița Cîntec, Artistic Director of FITPTI

The reaction of the organizers and the public, from the perspective of Oltița Cîntec, Artistic Director of FITPTI.

“What was the goal for Pepper in FITPTI 2021 and what were the results compared to expectations?”

"The theme of the relationship between art and technology has concerned me as a theater researcher for a long time, [...] I was just waiting for the right moment to give it spectacular content. I discovered Pepper when I went to your FabLab headquarters [...] and it was love at first sight. I liked his big eyes, the way he follows you, the movements of his hands. I already had a thousand ideas growing in concentric waves [...]. I am a fan of technology, of the post-human aesthetics that art-technology proximity determines. All we have to do is to parallel train people to understand how to use these inventions to their advantage. They are some tools that we have to get used to, whose user guide we have to go through very quickly, because the pace of cyber innovation is very fast. " Together with IRIS Robotics, we put Pepper to work, wrote him some small roles, taught him to dance, filmed him for the FITPTI trailer, and had him as a special guest star who interacted with the audience of all ages during the festival days. I was convinced that the impact on the public would be considerable. It really won over the audience.  The best moment was dancing to I am only Human, a subtle irony to some people's fear that new technologies will cause great trouble to mankind.  ”Pepper outdid himself! It was the sensation of the edition!

- Oltița Cîntec, Artistic Director of FITPTI

What was the audience's reaction to meeting Pepper and what category of audience do you think was really charmed by his presence at the festival?

"Everyone admired him, took pictures with him. Some were hesitant, others were fascinated, certainly everyone was curious to see him, to interact.  There was a super-hilarious phase where a mom was mesmerized by what Pepper was doing and her kid kept yelling at her to take a picture of them. He just couldn't hear the boy, he was in the robot world!  And as our Festival is aimed at those with a young soul regardless of what is written on their identity cards, this curious audience was captivated by Pepper regardless of the age on the documents."

- Oltița Cîntec, Artistic Director of FITPTI

Usage statistics of the Pepper robot during the festival

27 selfies generated for social media 3 educational presentations enthusiastically given by Pepper, where he gave people information about the festival as well as other important notions related to the artistic act itself. 41 choreographies performed to perfection on prepared songs, at the request of the public Final Conclusions First of all, we would like to thank Mrs. Oltița Cîntec, as well as the entire FITPTI team, for the invitation to this event and for the trust given to the IRIS Robotics team. During the festival, Pepper stood out for his excellence in public relations, but especially for the multitude of roles "played" within a single event - entertainment, promotion, education - and proved once again to be a versatile tool for organizations with a focus on technology and digitalization.

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