During the past decade soft robotics has emerged as a growing field of research. In this paper we present exploratory research on sound design for soft robotics with potential applications within the human-robot interaction domain. We conducted an analysis of the sounds made by imaginary soft creatures in movies. Drawing inspiration from the analysis, we designed a soft robotic prototype that features real-time sound generation based on FM synthesis. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Interaction design; • Applied computing → Media arts; • Computer systems organization → Robotics.
In this article, we report on research and creative practice that explores the aesthetic interplay between movement and sound for soft robotics. Our inquiry seeks to interrogate what sound designs might be aesthetically engaging and appropriate for soft robotic movement in a social human-robot interaction setting. We present the design of a soft sound-producing robot, SONŌ, made of pliable and expandable silicone and three sound designs made for this robot. The article comprises an articulation of the underlying design process and results from two empirical interaction experiments (N = 66, N = 60) conducted to evaluate the sound designs. The sound designs did not have statistically significant effects on people’s perception of the social attributes of two different soft robots. Qualitative results, however, indicate that people’s interpretations of the sound designs depend on robot type.
Through collaborative media arts practice we explore texture morphing soft robotics as an artistic medium of expression. We present an installation, Homo Viridis, that features a soft robotic interface developed to mediate signals between a vascular plant and a human body. The exposition paper discusses how Homo Viridis stages a situation of hybridity where individual, more-than-human subjectivities are mentally and physically intertwined. In conclusion, the paper reflects on how connecting organisms through soft robotic interfaces can actualize visions of a novel being - a ‘posthuman entity’. We argue that such a being might be physically composed of organic and synthetic elements that come together, but that it can also exist as a conceptual persona that may initiate discussions on what humans can become.
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