Are we ready for the internet of robotic things in public spaces?

Science fiction movies sometimes depict scenes of urban spaces with robots amidst humans as if this was normal. The Internet of Things continues to be explored in many domains, and with things getting “smarter”, as they become embedded with autonomous decision-making and AI, we envision the rise of the Internet of robotic things. The humanoid robot is only just one view of robots - the Internet of robotic things in public could give rise to robots in public spaces in forms that are more subtle and pervasive. This paper first highlights the issues and considerations arising from robotic things in public and suggests the need for regulations and cyber-institutions for such robotic things in public. The paper also outlines a notion of layers of behaviour and then introduces the notion of favour networks for robotic things.