Social Robotic Donuts

In order to broaden the design space for social robot design, we created two air-actuated donutshaped social robots: a small uniform silicone version and a more organic latex version. Our intent was to move away from typical human or animal form
mimicry, focusing instead on elastic expression, ambiguous form, and playful behaviors. Early studies show the robots provoking curious relationships with these contestational objects, inviting new forms of intriguing communication and interaction.