“Robot Steganography”: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Robots are being designed to communicate with people in various public and domestic venues in a perceptive, helpful, and discreet way. Here, we use a speculative prototyping approach to shine light on a new concept of robot steganography (RS): that a robot could seek to help vulnerable populations by discreetly warning of potential threats: We first identify some potentially useful scenarios for RS related to safety and security– concerns that are estimated to cost the world trillions of dollars each year–with a focus on two kinds of robots, a socially assistive robot (SAR) and an autonomous vehicle (AV). Next, we propose that existing, powerful, computer-based steganography (CS) approaches can be adopted with little effort in new contexts (SARs), while also pointing out potential benefits of human-like steganography (HS): Although less efficient and robust than CS, HS represents a currently-unused form of RS that could also be used to avoid requiring a computer to receive messages, detection by more technically advanced adversaries, or a lack of alternative connectivity (e.g., if a wireless channel is being jammed). Some unique challenges of RS are also introduced, that arise from message generation, indirect perception, and effects of perspective. Finally, we confirm the feasibility of the basic concept for RS, that messages can be hidden in a robot’s behaviors, via a simplified, initial user study, also making available some code and a video. The immediate implication is that RS could potentially help to improve people’s lives and mitigate some costly problems, as robots become increasingly prevalent in our society–suggesting the usefulness of further discussion, ideation, and consideration by designers.