Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

Sprout: Designing Expressivity for Robots Using Fiber-Embedded Actuator

Amy Koike, Michael Wehner, Bilge Mutlu

TL;DR

Sprout demonstrates that soft robotics can expand the expressive repertoire of robots with non-anthropomorphic forms by embedding fiber-embedded actuators to morph its body and convey internal states. The authors design six expressions using four deformation modes and validate interpretability through online and in-person studies with a total of about 113 participants. Findings show distinct emotion associations, perceived personality, and practical use-case opportunities, pointing to a rich design space where motion, color, and character design can enhance interaction. The work highlights potential applications in healthcare, education, and domestic settings and provides design recommendations and limitations for future exploration.

Abstract

In this paper, we explore how techniques from soft robotics can help create a new form of robot expression. We present Sprout, a soft expressive robot that conveys its internal states by changing its body shape. Sprout can extend, bend, twist, and expand using fiber-embedded actuators integrated into its construction. These deformations enable Sprout to express its internal states, for example, by expanding to express anger and bending its body sideways to express curiosity. Through two user studies, we investigated how users interpreted Sprout's expressions, their perceptions of Sprout, and their expectations from future iterations of Sprout's design. We argue that the use of soft actuators opens a novel design space for robot expressions to convey internal states, emotions, and intent.

Sprout: Designing Expressivity for Robots Using Fiber-Embedded Actuator

TL;DR

Sprout demonstrates that soft robotics can expand the expressive repertoire of robots with non-anthropomorphic forms by embedding fiber-embedded actuators to morph its body and convey internal states. The authors design six expressions using four deformation modes and validate interpretability through online and in-person studies with a total of about 113 participants. Findings show distinct emotion associations, perceived personality, and practical use-case opportunities, pointing to a rich design space where motion, color, and character design can enhance interaction. The work highlights potential applications in healthcare, education, and domestic settings and provides design recommendations and limitations for future exploration.

Abstract

In this paper, we explore how techniques from soft robotics can help create a new form of robot expression. We present Sprout, a soft expressive robot that conveys its internal states by changing its body shape. Sprout can extend, bend, twist, and expand using fiber-embedded actuators integrated into its construction. These deformations enable Sprout to express its internal states, for example, by expanding to express anger and bending its body sideways to express curiosity. Through two user studies, we investigated how users interpreted Sprout's expressions, their perceptions of Sprout, and their expectations from future iterations of Sprout's design. We argue that the use of soft actuators opens a novel design space for robot expressions to convey internal states, emotions, and intent.
Paper Structure (33 sections, 4 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 33 sections, 4 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Novel Robot Social Cues
  4. Use of Soft Materials for Robot Design
  5. Shape-Changing Interfaces
  6. Design and Implementation
  7. Design Inspiration
  8. Fiber-Embedded Actuators
  9. Designing Sprout
  10. Construction of Sprout
  11. User Study
  12. Study 1: Online Video Study
  13. Participants
  14. Study Design
  15. Study 2: In-person Feedback Sessions
  16. ...and 18 more sections

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Still images from the videos that displayed Sprout's resting state and six motion patterns.
  • Figure 2: (a) Plutchik's Emotion Wheel plutchik1980generalplutchik1988nature used for the emotion labeling task, and (b) results from the task for each expression. The columns show the Top-10 emotion words chosen for each expression. The highlighted boxes correspond to emotion words that received a high score (i.e., top five within an expression) in at least three expressions. Each highlighted emotion word is associated with the same color across expressions.
  • Figure 3: Results from the GodSpeed Questionnaire data across six expressions for Anthropomorphism, Animacy, Likability, Perceived Intelligence, and Perceived Safety.
  • Figure 4: Scenes from the feedback session. (a) P5 touching Sprout to understand how it felt when it was moving. (b) P9 exploring how LED light might diffuse through Sprout's body. (c) P11 and an experimenter exploring a new character design for Sprout.