CapstoneFinalReport_NoCaps; Robotic Players and the Ethics of Accessible Gaming: A Sociotechnical Analysis of Inclusivity, Authenticity, and Human Connection

The capstone and STS sides of my project began as discrete efforts, but they quickly intertwined as I began to realize that they were both addressing similar kinds of design questions: how do the systems that we design or code prioritize inclusion while still maintaining the social value of, and integrity of, human experience? This question became the bridge between the technical construction of a gaming robot for a card match and my theoretical research on design for accessible gaming. Collectively, it was an investigation into understanding design when we so often design (or code) with the presumptive informed consent of a non-included actor, and both how the design functions, but also how we relate to each other through it.
The technical component of my thesis resulted in the development of a robotic system called SlapBot, which was designed to act like a human player in the reflex-based card game Slapjack. The project was developed as a group project, and my role was focused on the design and implementation of a card jack detection system, which was developed using OpenCV. My work involved setting up the camera to track the playing card while in play, designing a machine-learning protocol to train the camera to identify and react to the playing cards in real time, and send the detection clues to the microcontroller, which would in turn drive a robotic response via GPIO. The robot slapped down when it saw a jack, mirroring the action of a human player making a quick reaction to a specific visual cue. SlapBot was designed specifically to give a consistent and predictable reaction time to allow users with diminished reflexes more opportunities to engage as players. SlapBot allows players who may experience physical and cognitive limitations to enjoy greater engagement. When considering the act of design in the simplicity of the robot, we had to make choices about what kind of play experience we were creating and who we were designing for. That inquiry pushed me to ask broader questions about authenticity and fairness of inclusion, which would ultimately shape what I studied in STS.
In my STS research, I examined how robotic systems such as SlapBot fit into a larger tradition of accessible gaming that began with the design innovations of the Nintendo Wii. The Wii provided the first motion-based controls, which changed the norms of physical expectations to play, allowing individuals who could not use physical buttons or joysticks to join in as players. This notion of accessing equity would form the inroad into my research. I adopted Actor-Network Theory to analyze the way robotics players and accessibility tools are actor-participants, who may actually complicate each other's status as technical devices when considered an actor in a social network formed through play. I examined the ways robotic players may support accessibility by flattening reflex-based advantages, but also how they may also change the social and emotional experience of a game. Robots do not waver. They do not joke or misjudge. They are consistent players. While a robot may serve inclusion in ways we want, it may also diminish the randomness and relationships that make gaming feel meaningful. To support or not support design values such as human qualities, I included ethical frameworks of deontology and value-sensitive design, and I argue that robot players are not just tools added on to provide support for limitations. They create experiences together, hence the design must be socially and ethically extracted from the developments surrounding them.
Thinking about the design of this work through both the technical and STS sides helped me to realize how important it is to consider design through multi-faceted lenses. From the technical side, I was pleased to create something that could operate in a reliably and meaningful way. From an STS side, I learned that successful engineering is not just about purposeful functionality; it is about the impact of that functionality for the people using it. Actor-Network theory has helped me to understand that SlapBot was not operating as a tool on its own. It impacted the play, the interactions, and the experiences of the people together. The robot became part of the game’s social landscape. Holding that idea next to ethical frameworks allows for reflection on what it means to engineer a system that is also embracing the values of fairness, emotional commitment, and access.
These two projects helped me to define what I believe good engineering is. It is not solely about being efficient or innovative, it is thoughtful. It considers people, place, and the dynamics it is going to influence. My work on SlapBot and my research on inclusive gaming both positioned me to see users not as parts of the backdrop of design, but as central to the design processes. This experience has shown me that when engineers create room for empathy, reflection, and inclusion, they are not softening the work. They are robustly and rigorously hardening the engineering. That becomes the type of engineer I want to be.