Anybody, anywhere, anytime - Robotics with a social impact through a building block approach

In order to confront the challenge of creating robotics with a social impact, this paper speculates on how to allow anybody anywhere hands-on opportunity to make contextualized solutions. Inspired by embodied artificial intelligence and modular robotics, we present the building block approach as a way to achieve user-driven innovation of high tech solutions with a social impact. Modularity invites to physical manipulation and reconfiguration, and in the process of physical manipulation, the user starts understanding and developing the functionality. Through immediate action in the interaction, the user is not only learning about the abstract thinking that the system may represent, but at the same time, the user is able to try the system in new, innovative configurations. Hence, the system becomes a true engine for innovation allowing the user to creatively invent, build and test new developments as the exploration is happening. As instantiations of this building block approach and its social impact, we briefly review the development and use of modular robotic devices for education, health improvements, and business in Africa. We briefly outline the modular building blocks for education, modular interactive tiles for rehabilitation in Tanzania and for soccer tournaments in Africa, Asia and Europe.