This course is a response to the increasing use of robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and digital technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications in business and society. Drones are unmanned, multi-purpose tools. Their history can be traced back to World War I when the US army experimented with unmanned aerial torpedos. Nowadays, drone technology belongs to the military arsenal of many nations. Drones serve many purposes (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance etc.), and they can be deadly. In business and society, drones are utilised to capture images of people and/or buildings, to monitor agricultural conditions, to take pictures from (or of) hard to reach places, to assess the impact of climate change on rainforests, to film events, to deliver parcels, to survey real estate, to deliver help to heart attack victims in remote areas via a flying defibrillator or to fly life-saving kits to swimmers in emergency situations. In view of their increasing importance in terms of commercial value creation, R&D (it is estimated that about $6.4 billion is spent annually for R&D on drones), job creation, innovation (e.g. Internet of Things), new forms of warfare as well as legal/moral-ethical/regulatory concerns, it is imperative that students learn to critically appreciate the multiple and often conflicting implications and consequences of this technology for business and society. Similarly, the increasing use of AR (defined as an enhanced version of the real physical world that is achieved through the use of digital visual elements, sound, or other sensory stimuli delivered via technology) and VR (which refers to the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment enabling users to immerse themselves in an entirely different virtual environment created and rendered by computers) can have unintended effects such as data misuse, loss of freedom or harm to one’s reputation. To build holistic digital capabilities, students will have to read widely and familiarize themselves with the various functionalities of robotics, UAVs and immersive technologies in order to critically assess these innovations and to articulate informed opinions about ‘the good’, ‘the bad’, and ‘the future’ of these novel technological developments. The course will be taught by a multi-disciplinary team of instructors plus exposure to tech entrepreneurs and digital (corporate) innovation champions.
The overall objective of this module is to equip students with core knowledge of drone and 3D robotics technology from a holistic perspective – i.e., technology, business and societal impact as well as ethical issues.
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Learning Goals |
Learning Objectives |
Learning Outcomes |
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To develop competencies related to the historical evolution of UAVs (drones), robot (digital) and immersive technologies (AR/VR), including the critical analysis of contemporary use cases of such novel technologies in logistics, supply chain management, transportation, manufacturing etc. |
Students develop digital capabilities with regards to drones, robot (digital) and immersive technologies (AR/VR) by doing research on the workings of the respective technology, internalizing the basic technology functions, and explaining how they (basically) work. |
Students will demonstrate the ability to critically explain the functioning of selected use cases of drone, robot (digital) and immersive technologies (AR/VR) in various verticals and industry sectors, and how AR/VR have evolved to XR (Extended Reality) and the Metaverse |
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To introduce students to the disruptive potential of drones, robot and immersive technologies as well as digital transformations in business and society, e.g., with reference to logistics, supply chain management, transportation, manufacturing etc. |
Students can describe and analyze key commercial (incl. military) applications of drones, (digital) robot and immersive technologies in various verticals and sectors. They can explain how new disruptive digital technologies produce new value creation opportunities in business and society. Students can articulate the start-up potential and future impact of drones, robot and immersive technologies. |
Students will demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate the multiple and often conflicting implications and consequences of drone, robot (digital) and immersive technologies in business and society. |
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To sensitise students to the imperatives of ethical concerns and legitimate policy objectives in the development and use of digital technologies, and to consider how decision-making can better engage the broader concerns of society and other stakeholders.
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Students can assess ‘the good’, ‘the bad’, and ‘the future’ of novel technologies such as robotics, UAVs and immersive technologies (AR/VR).
They can articulate some of the legal, regulatory & ethical-moral issues of deploying drones, robots and immersive technologies in business and society.
Students can critically evaluate the call by robotics experts to ban autonomous weapons and their concerns about the potentially disastrous effects of the artificial intelligence revolution for humanity. |
Students will demonstrate the ability to identify key stakeholders in business and society and understand their interests, critically apply ethical perspectives to problems, and manage the competing, or even conflicting, concerns that often arise from the development and use of a disruptive technologies related to UAVs, robots and AR/VR. |