Recent estimates suggest that expenditure on robotics is set to reach $115 billion this year before rising to over $210 billion by 2022. Whereas traditionally industrial robots would be complex and heavyweight bits of equipment that worked largely in isolation from their human "colleagues," it’s increasingly common to see man and machine working together.
This is resulting in a growing interest in the psychology and practicality of these interactions. For instance, a few years ago, researchers explored how people feel about having robots for colleagues.
