Material Driven HRI Design: Aesthetics as Explainability
Organizations: BTP SAP Innovation Palo Alto, CA, USA
Abstract
Aesthetics - often treated as secondary to function-guides how people interpret robots' roles. A great deal of robot designs - both real and fictitious - use sleek industrial aesthetics. These feature hard glossy plastics, hiding as much of the underlying mechanical and electrical components as possible, resembling something akin to a nude humanoid figure. This leaves robots as something of a blank slate to which end-users apply coverings to, often based on media of fiction and non-fiction alike. We argue that designers can take cues from fashion to design interaction and set appropriate expectations. Rather than viewing appearance as decoration, we propose that color, texture, and material choices function as interaction signals. These signals can invite or discourage touch, clarify a robot's role, and help align user expectations with a robot's actual capabilities. When done thoughtfully, such cues can create familiarity and legibility; when done poorly, they can lead to wrong expectations. This preliminary paper proposes a framework describing how materials can create explainability by signaling expectations for interaction, task, and environment. We use this framework to do a content analysis of 6 robots.
Figures & tables
| Image | Name | Clothing piece | Task | Setting | Interaction |
| Erica | Purple shawl, black button down, and brunette straight hair wig | The formal clothing suggests appearance based tasks, like posing or speaking for a crowd. | Formal clothing suggests Erica is meant to be outside the home, in public. | Because the materials are soft, touch is welcome, but because the materials are higher end, and Erica is a robot, people would touch Erica with care. | |
| Flobi | White collar and removable masks | The collar without a shirt suggests a clean, non-distracting, or neutral identity. However, the robot is meant to imitate people’s emotional expressions for kids or people with disabilities. | The collar and simple removable masks suggests this robot belongs at a school. | The texture of the hard plastic does not invite touch, but the toy like shapes and colors do invite touch. The formality of the collar does not necessarily invite touch. | |
| Furby | Orange or purple fur | Bright colors invite play-based companionship and entertainment tasks, such as reacting and being cared for like a pet. | Bright colors and soft textures say informal domestic spaces like bedrooms or playrooms where toys belong. | The soft fur strongly invites touch, hugging, and squeezing; interaction is playful, primarily tactile, frequent, and low-risk. | |
| Geminoid DK DK | Black and white collar, blonde wig | The formal black color and white shirt suggests lower durability. Conversational-based tasks where the robot stands in for a person, such as, telepresence or public dialogue. | The formality suggests professional or academic environments like labs, offices, or stages. | The realistic clothing and human likeness encourage face-to-face social interaction rather than touch; people are likely to keep physical distance and treat the robot with social etiquette. Similar to Erica, if someone touches Germanoid DK, it will be with care. | |
| Kaspar | Red plaid button-down shirt over a grey long-sleeve t-shirt, superman baseball hat over a short hair black wig | Clothes are similar to the patients’ clothes, demonstrating a peer. This could make a patient feel more comfortable doing therapeutic or educational tasks, especially supporting social skills training for children with autism. | The clothes, similar to that of a playful young boy points to settings like classrooms. | The familiar childlike clothing and hat reduce intimidation and encourage gentle touch, play, and frequent physical touch. | |
| Lovot | Pink, yellow, and orange fabric covering "head", "arms", and "stomach." Material appears terry cloth, stretchy, and fitted. | The simple form and playful colors invite emotional companionship and comfort tasks, such as cuddling, following, and responding affectionately to users. | The terry cloth materials point to domestic and caregiving environments like homes or elder care spaces. | The plush, stretchy fabric strongly invites hugging and holding. Interaction is primarily tactile and cozy, similar to interacting with a stuffed animal. |
Human-Robot Interaction
Human-robot interaction studies how people and robots communicate, coordinate, and safely work or live together.
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