Rethinking Bodily Expression in Human-Robot Communication: Insights from Sculpture

Belinda J Dunstan, Guy Hoffman
pp.  98 – 116, download
(https://doi.org/10.55612/s-5002-061-003)

Abstract

Sculpture offers a centuries-long tradition of techniques for expressing emotion and movement in a static form. Insights from this field present an opportunity to design robots that express not only through movement, but also via dynamic cues in their static positions. Such cues can suggest motion potential, emotion, and character. This paper presents three principles identified in sculpture techniques that can be applied to robot design: (a) depicting exposure and protection of emotional pivot points in the body, (b) weight distribution, and (c) the revelation of movement mechanisms and tension through flexible skins. We employ the first two of these principles in an interactive design and motion control environment to demonstrate the potential for application to the design of social collaborative robots. We illustrate the third principle via a robot design that uses a flexible fabric skin stretched over rigid and elastic actuation elements. Using insights from sculpture can promote the design of robots from a transdisciplinary perspective by increasing the readability of robot intent and affect even when the robot is not actively moving

Keywords: Social robotics, sculpture, interaction, design, human-robot interaction

CRediT author statement. Belinda J Dunstan: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Project administration. Guy Hoffman: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Project administration

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