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ELEGNT: Expressive and Functional Movement Design for Non-anthropomorphic Robot

Yuhan Hu, Peide Huang, Mouli Sivapurapu, Jian Zhang

TL;DR

ELEGNT addresses how non-anthropomorphic robots can convey internal states through movement by combining functional and expressive utilities within an MDP-based trajectory framework. The lamp-shaped robot demonstrates kinesics and proxemics primitives that signal intention, attention, attitude, and emotion, evaluated via a within-subject user study across six tasks. Results show expression-driven trajectories significantly boost engagement and perceptions of intelligence and character, especially in social contexts, and highlight the need for alignment with voice and light modalities. The work offers design guidance and a pathway toward context-aware, expressive robot movements that blend social presence with practical task performance.

Abstract

Nonverbal behaviors such as posture, gestures, and gaze are essential for conveying internal states, both consciously and unconsciously, in human interaction. For robots to interact more naturally with humans, robot movement design should likewise integrate expressive qualities, such as intention, attention, and emotions, alongside traditional functional considerations like task fulfillment and time efficiency. In this paper, we present the design and prototyping of a lamp-like robot that explores the interplay between functional and expressive objectives in movement design. Using a research-through-design methodology, we document the hardware design process, define expressive movement primitives, and outline a set of interaction scenario storyboards. We propose a framework that incorporates both functional and expressive utilities during movement generation, and implement the robot behavior sequences in different function- and social- oriented tasks. Through a user study comparing expression-driven versus function-driven movements across six task scenarios, our findings indicate that expression-driven movements significantly enhance user engagement and perceived robot qualities. This effect is especially pronounced in social-oriented tasks.

ELEGNT: Expressive and Functional Movement Design for Non-anthropomorphic Robot

TL;DR

ELEGNT addresses how non-anthropomorphic robots can convey internal states through movement by combining functional and expressive utilities within an MDP-based trajectory framework. The lamp-shaped robot demonstrates kinesics and proxemics primitives that signal intention, attention, attitude, and emotion, evaluated via a within-subject user study across six tasks. Results show expression-driven trajectories significantly boost engagement and perceptions of intelligence and character, especially in social contexts, and highlight the need for alignment with voice and light modalities. The work offers design guidance and a pathway toward context-aware, expressive robot movements that blend social presence with practical task performance.

Abstract

Nonverbal behaviors such as posture, gestures, and gaze are essential for conveying internal states, both consciously and unconsciously, in human interaction. For robots to interact more naturally with humans, robot movement design should likewise integrate expressive qualities, such as intention, attention, and emotions, alongside traditional functional considerations like task fulfillment and time efficiency. In this paper, we present the design and prototyping of a lamp-like robot that explores the interplay between functional and expressive objectives in movement design. Using a research-through-design methodology, we document the hardware design process, define expressive movement primitives, and outline a set of interaction scenario storyboards. We propose a framework that incorporates both functional and expressive utilities during movement generation, and implement the robot behavior sequences in different function- and social- oriented tasks. Through a user study comparing expression-driven versus function-driven movements across six task scenarios, our findings indicate that expression-driven movements significantly enhance user engagement and perceived robot qualities. This effect is especially pronounced in social-oriented tasks.
Paper Structure (35 sections, 3 equations, 9 figures)

This paper contains 35 sections, 3 equations, 9 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Related Work
  3. Non-anthropomorphic Robots for HRI
  4. Movement Design for Expression
  5. Methodology
  6. Designing Robot Form
  7. Generating Robot Movements
  8. Framework Formulation
  9. Functional and Expressive Utility
  10. Intention
  11. Attention
  12. Attitude
  13. Emotion
  14. Building Blocks: Expressive Movement Design Primitives
  15. Interaction Scenarios
  16. ...and 20 more sections

Figures (9)

  • Figure 1: Existing robot form spectrum: Anthropomorphic, Zoomorphic, and Appliance-like.
  • Figure 2: Sketching ideas of non-anthropomorphic robots with different form factors, sizes, and placements.
  • Figure 3: Hardware composition of the lamp robot (left); Interaction modalities between human and robot, including gesturing, verbal communication, light and projection display, and touch interaction (right).
  • Figure 4: Illustration of the design space for expressive robot movements, including kinesics and proxemics movement primitives.
  • Figure 5: Illustration of at-home interaction scenarios, organized by the robot’s agency (proactive vs. reactive) and task context (function-oriented vs. social-oriented).
  • ...and 4 more figures