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On the website for the American public the links between the domestic and the military divisions of the firm have long been made explicit in various ways. This is particularly relevant, since the website is likely to be one of the main contact points between the firm and the public. In fact, it is plausible that the website is the main source of information that potential consumers will refer to should they be interested in the firm’s products, thus it is one of the key channels through which iRobot constructs its public image and through which it can circulate its militarising narrative.

Nowadays, the firm’s military character becomes manifest both in visual and linguistic terms as soon as someone accesses the firm’s website (Figure 5.1. – see below).

Figure 5.1. – Rotating Screen from the iRobot homepage in 2014

However, this was not always the case. While iRobot’s association with the military sphere is to be found on the site as early as in 2000, it was not highlighted to a significant extent. Indeed, it started being emphasised more systematically only following 9/11, once the firm’s first military PackBot had made its first appearance in the context of the rescue efforts following the terrorist attacks, and became prominent only over the following years.

A semiological analysis of the firm's homepages from 2000 onwards, retrieved through the Wayback Machine online archive, shows that overall the military element has increasingly been emphasised over the course of the years. This is inferred from the fact that the signs standing for the military character of the firm have progressively become more obvious and explicit. First, while the military character of the company was initially referred to through images of the PackBot, at a later stage the homepages also started featuring soldiers using military robots in the field. The references to the military character therefore became more explicit as iRobot started using images that are more clearly related to the military. Second, military elements have progressively

been assigned more spatial weight, in relation to the spatial weight assigned to civilian elements. While initially the signs recalling the military character of the company were small in comparison to the other signs, the former have become as big as the latter over the course of the years. As Rose (2001) points out, giving great spatial weight to an element of an image is a strategy usually employed to highlight the element in question. Furthermore, the military elements have progressively become more integrated with the civilian ones through the use of graphic framing devices connecting the sings featuring in the images. As Williamson (1978) and Goldman (1992) highlight, employing graphic framing devices is a commonly used technique to draw connections and transfer meaning between the signs featuring in an advertisement.

By the end of the year 2000, on the website there were only few explicit references to the firm’s connection with the military and these were not visible on the company's homepage. One reference can be found on the webpage presenting their research and development (R&D) lab, which stated that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was one of the company’s main customers and that their funding was meant to develop robots performing dangerous tasks, e.g. mine disposal (iRobot, 2000a). The other webpage drawing those links was the one providing an overview of the company’s Research Programs; in fact, several of the projects were described in terms of their potential for military use, such as the MUMS (Micro Unattended Mobility System), MUMS 2 and the Urban Robot (iRobot website, 2000b).

In 2001, as early as late September, the links between iRobot and the military became slightly more explicit. Contrarily to the previous versions of the website, the

information on the military robot (iRobot, 2001a – see figure 5.2. below). It should be noted that at that point the PackBots had only been used to search the site of the 9/11 attacks and not for operations on the battlefield. However, overall the image of the PackBot on the firm’s homepage is less visible than in the following versions of the website. Furthermore, figure 5.2. shows how at that stage the other robots produced by iRobot were given much greater spatial weight and therefore visibility on the homepage. Also, while the other products are all aligned, the PackBot is represented in a separate box. While through the use of this graphic framing device the PackBot is emphasised to some extent, it also implies some distance between the latter and the other products.

Figure 5.2. - iRobot website homepage in late September 2001

Subsequently, the references to the dual character of the firm became increasingly present on the website, both textually and visually. Various press releases published both in late 2001 and 2002 made explicit references to the military character

funding stated that the latter would be used to ‘address the rapidly growing markets for industrial, consumer, and military robotic systems’ (iRobot, 2001b) and contained a statement by co-founder Angle, who argued that ‘From the home, to the office, to the oil field, even to support the war on terrorism, our products will help improve the lives of millions of people’ (ibid.). This type of statement making reference to the various scenarios in which iRobot products are used has subsequently become widely employed on the part of the firm over the ensuing decade and beyond.

In 2002, the references to the PackBot increased even further across the website. The homepage (Figure 5.3. – see below) featured both an image of the PackBot and a link to the R&D webpage containing further details on the military robot (iRobot, 2002a), but also a link to the ‘Recent Press’ webpage, where most articles were centred on the development of the firm’s military robots (iRobot, 2002b), e.g. ‘Meet PackBot: The newest recruit’ (Robertson, 2002) and ‘PackBot could clear the way for ground robots in the military’ (The Washington Times, 2002). Thus, the new layout of the homepage also testified an increasing willingness to highlight the military character of some of the firm’s robots.

In 2003, the amount of space devoted to the PackBot on the firm’s homepage grew even further, occupying about one third of it, whereas another third was dedicated to the Roomba (iRobot, 2003a). Both the intention to highlight the military character of the firm and the links between the two divisions thus became more obvious, as both products were given the same spatial weight on the company's homepage. Furthermore, the homepage featured a link to a website entirely dedicated to the PackBot (iRobot, 2003b).

In 2005 and 2006, the homepage of the firm started making even clearer references to the dual character of the firm by including, along with images of the Roomba and the PackBot, some rotating screens alternating the image of soldiers employing the PackBot and the image of a family using the Roomba (iRobot, 2005b) (Figure 5.4. – see below). This is the first instance in which the military character of the firm is referred to by showing a soldier in the field, instead of using only a military robot. The military character is therefore referred to more explicitly, using an image that recalls the military character of the company in a more obvious manner. Furthermore, the use of the rotating screens also signals the intention to draw attention to the content of the alternating images. Overall, this homepage shows a much clearer reference to the military character of the company than all of the previous ones.

In 2007, the imagery employed by iRobot to draw the links between the civilian and the military robots became even more explicit. The homepage of the firm presented one large photomontage occupying two thirds of the hompage and featuring, on one hand, a PackBot with soldiers in the background and, on the other hand, a mother with a child and a Roomba. Crucially, the lines between the domestic and the military scenarios were blurred – this time in a literal sense - and parts of the images used for the photomontage overlapped (iRobot, 2007a) (Figure 5.5. – see below).

This homepage presents various interesting features. Similarly to the previous homepage, the same spatial weight is given to the signs referring to the civilian and the military spheres, respectively. However, unlike in the other homepages, where the images referring to each sphere were kept separate through the use of a clear frame, this image suggests the intention to draw a stronger connection between the civilian and military spheres. The blurred boundary and the overlapping elements unify the two spheres, making them appear as being part of a whole.

The caption below the picture also unequivocally associates the two spheres, as it states that ‘Millions of iRobot’s cleaning robots and several hundred tactical robots are in use around the world today. iRobot’s innovative robots get the job done for you – meaning life easier and safer’. The last sentence is particularly revealing, as the term “job” is used to refer both to domestic work and military missions, despite the considerable differences between the two. Similarly, the notion that robots make life easier and safer seems to be intended both for a domestic and a military context, even though clearly these differ substantially.

Figure 5.5. - iRobot's website homepage in June 2007

In 2008, a new homepage version was released (iRobot, 2008a). On the latter, the civilian and military spheres were associated both visually, due to the content of the image and the use of a graphic framing device, and by the language employed on the part of the firm. First, the homepage featured both the Roomba and the PackBot (Figure 5.6. – see below); it also contained images in the background, showing a soldier on one hand and a woman with a dog in a domestic environment on the other hand. Second, the link between the two spheres was also strengthened by the use of a graphic framing device that connects the domestic and the military environments, and by the fact that part of the dog, which stands for the domestic sphere, overlaps into the military sphere. Third, the association between the two divisions is reinforced by the overarching title, which refers to the firm’s robots as a single category, i.e. ‘robots that make a difference’, without making any reference to the differences between the two types of robotic products.

Figure 5. 6. - iRobot's website homepage in November 2008

In 2009, the homepage was modified again and started including a section on the firm’s educational programme SPARK, which made reference to the fact that iRobot had made its first entry in education establishments with the stated goal of increasing interest in STEM subjects among young students (iRobot, 2009a) (see figure 5.7.). Thus, the firm started highlighting how it had made its entrance in another civilian sphere, in addition to the domestic one. This is the first version of the website that shows all of the key elements of the firm highlighted in this research, as it seamlessly integrates its military division, the domestic one, which is referred to through the captions ‘Robots for the home’ and ‘Busy Moms’ (it should be noted that this is an instance of iRobot using emotion-arousing terms; making reference to family bonds in relation to the military robots is a frequently used strategy of framing, which attempts to establish emotional bonds with the audience), but also the educational programmes. If one compares this version of the homepage to the one in late September 2001 (figure 5.2.), it can be seen that the firm has gone a long way in terms of the integration achieved between its various products and divisions. The connections between the military and the civilian spheres are more obvious, which contributes to tying them together more tightly.

Figure 5.7. – iRobot’s website homepage in October 2009 (iRobot, 2012a)

The latest version of the homepage is the one adopted in April 2012 (iRobot, 2012a). The homepage features four different rotating screens, each one representing scenes that refer to the different situations and scenarios in which the firm’s robots operate. These are represented both through the use of images and captions. In 2013, the locations were ‘the ocean’, ‘the field’ (i.e. the battlefield), ‘the home’ and ‘our schools’ (iRobot, 2013a) (Figure 8 – see below). In 2014, ‘the ocean’ has been replaced by ‘the workplace’, and the screen features a robot application for telepresence (iRobot, 2014a). Presenting the images in such a sequence seems to suggest an unwillingness to treat the various scenarios in a substantially different way on the part of firm. The military becomes only one among the various scenarios in which iRobot’s products can be used.

Thus, nowadays, from the moment an individual gains access to the website, he is confronted with the fact that iRobot produces robots for the military. The association with the military is further emphasised from a visual perspective by the fact

that some of the images on the ‘military robots screen’ feature soldiers wearing camouflage combat uniforms and using iRobot’s PackBots and the SUGV (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle) during situations that seem to suggest that enhanced situational awareness is required (the first image in particular shows soldiers preparing to enter a building and sending in a robot first), even though those robots are also widely used by civilians. However, the only figures present on the ‘military screen’ are military, given their outfits.

Figure 5.8. – The four rotating screens on iRobot’s homepage (iRobot, 2013a) The other screens feature situations that explicitly belong to the civilian sphere, i.e. children using robots for educational purposes, robots carrying out housework and robots being employed for oceanographic research and telepresence in working environments. The interesting aspect that emerges from this association of images is that when taken together with the other screens, the military scenes appear to be merely one of the various ways in which robots are used; the military applications of iRobot’s products are not differentiated substantially from the other non-military ones. This connection between the civilian and military spheres is also further

the webpage. In fact, for each of the four screens, the first part of the caption is

identical, ‘Robots that make a difference’ (emphasis in the original), whereas the final part

is specific to each scenario, ‘…in the ocean’, ‘…in the field’, ‘…in our schools’, ‘…in the

home’ and in the ‘workplace’ (iRobot, 2013a) (emphasis in the original). Through the repetition of the first part of the caption, iRobot describes its robots in terms of a certain “function” that they perform in each of these distinct scenarios, i.e. “making a difference”. Clearly, the actual functions performed in each of these are very different, such as cleaning floors and gutters in a domestic sphere and helping soldiers to dispose of explosive devices on the battlefield. However, the use of the same caption about their robots making a difference establishes a unifying thread between the various tasks performed by the firm’s robots and thus contributes to blurring the lines between the civilian and the military spheres.

In the ‘Home robots’ section of the firm’s website, there are further obvious ways in which the two divisions are connected. If someone accesses the ‘Shop’ section present on the homepage, they are redirected to a webpage that mainly presents the domestic robots, but that nevertheless contains the image of a PackBot at the bottom, together with the caption ‘Defence and Security’ (iRobot, 2013a) (Figure 5.9. – see below).

Similarly, if one clicks the ‘About iRobot’ link on the webpage about domestic robots and selects the ‘Defense and Security’ link from the scrolldown menu, the first images that appear show some of the firm’s military robots (iRobot, 2013b) (Figure 5.10. – see below). In general, it seems that on most web pages, even those that are intended uniquely for a domestic commercial purpose, there are links to the military robots.

Figure 5.9. – The ‘Home’ section webpage, featuring a military robot at the bottom

Figure 5.10. – The ‘Defense & Security Robots’ webpage, accessed through the ‘Home robots’ section

Overall, if one considers the ways in which the website has changed over the past 15 years, it becomes clear that there has been a clear progression in the ways in which iRobot has gradually emphasised its military character and blurred the lines between the domestic and the military spheres. At first, in 2000, there was little

started shifting and the military robots started occupying an increasingly prominent position on the firm’s website, e.g. as iRobot progressively assigned them greater spatial weight on the homepage. The military character of the firm was also further highlighted, as iRobot started using signs that are more obviously evocative of the military, such as soldiers, alongside the company's military robots. The links between the two divisions were also emphasised through the use of graphic framing devices that connect the signs standing for each division. Overall, the picture that emerges from the analysis of the firm's website is one where the military and civilian spheres are often presented as seamlessly connected, which gives the firm's narrative a militarising character.

This change in the firm’s strategy can probably be ascribed to the fact that in the wake of 9/11 iRobot was involved in keeping US forces safe in the war in Afghanistan, a military intervention that enjoyed widespread support. From an American perspective, iRobot was playing an important role, protecting the country’s soldiers. At the same time, the slow progression of the marketing strategy suggests a cautious approach on the part of the firm: it seems that iRobot was attempting to establish whether emphasising its military character would be an effective strategy over time. If highlighting the military character had been perceived as potentially damaging to the image of the company, it seems unlikely that iRobot would have kept stressing its links with the military. By the end of 2014, there were only a few web pages of the firm’s website where the links with the military were not highlighted.

The firm’s official YouTube channel, the iRobot iTube Channel, is another means employed by the firm to show off its military products and to draw the links between its two divisions. These are made explicit both in visual and in textual terms.

The iTube Channel was launched in 2009 (iRobot, 2009b) and clearly reflects the same type of emphasis that can be found on the website. In fact, the channel includes videos featuring both some of the firm’s domestic and military robots (iRobot, 2014b). However, due to the fact that it was launched only in 2009, there is not a long