H.U. Tenn MA (Hong-Ui)

Marie Curie Doctoral Fellow | Bridging Engineering Innovation and Societal Impact in Wearable Robotics

I'm a third-year PhD researcher at the University of Twente, investigating how wearable soft actuators (WSAs) mediate human-world relations, namely, how WSAs actively shape/influence our lives, and what are the impacts and risk brought by WSAs. My work falls at the intersection of philosophy of technology, soft robotics, and responsible design.

What I Do:

I analyze the ways WSAs (and its core characteristics) mediate human-world relations beyond their intended functions. Through qualitative studies, I'm developing frameworks that help R&D teams anticipate and manage the social risks of their innovations.

Key Focus Areas:

Responsible Design: Creating practical guidelines for embedding ethical considerations into WSA development

Value Dynamics: Understanding how engineering practices shape the societal impacts of emerging technologies

Human-Technology Relations: Exploring new forms of mediation created by WSAs.

Current Research:

My dissertation introduces the conceptual model, which maps how technical constraints and design decisions in WSAs development influence their eventual social implications. Also, I aim to give an accounts on values and mediation role of WSAs. This work aims to bridge the gap between abstract ethical principles and concrete engineering practices.

POA:

Responsible design

Philosophy of Science in Practice

Philosophy of Medicine

Philosophy of Technology

Interdisciplinary Research

Ethics of Innovative Technology

Organisations

The soft actuator is a kind of soft robotics. It is aimed to support human abilities, such as walking longer, affording heavier, etc. The ultimate goal of SOFTWEAR project is to integrate soft actuators into the textiles to overcome the disadvantages of exoskeletons. The designing process of the soft actuators will involve the issues of vulnerability: What kinds of vulnerabilities would be encountered by users? How do these vulnerabilities be transformed by soft actuators? How can we overcome or minimize the risk of soft actuators? Here philosophers intend to analyze the concept of vulnerability and account for the model of it, in order to support the empirical works during the designing process. 

And there is another dimension of philosophical work in the design of soft actuators. How do designers come up with solutions to technical and empirical difficulties? How do they evaluate these solutions? Conceptual tools like models, thought experiments, etc. are frequently used. And these conceptual tools will be reflected by philosophical analysis (especially in epistemic debates), which aims to provide better tools for designing soft actuators.

Address

University of Twente

Citadel (building no. 09), room H230
Hallenweg 15
7522 NH Enschede
Netherlands

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