Encounter with the Giants: Understanding Interaction with Large-scale Inflatable Soft Robots
Immi Biswas, Emma Powell, Robert Nixdorf, Richard Sewell & Anne Roudaut. 2025.
Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Soft robots, constructed from compliant materials, offer unique flexibility and adaptability. However, most research has focused on small-scale interactions, leaving the potential of large-scale soft robots largely unexplored. This research explores how humans engage with inflatable soft robots that are large in size and created for fun and artistic expression. We conducted 22 hours of video analysis (N=30) and thematic interviews (N=20) to understand user engagement and explore their motivations. Our findings revealed a range of interactions, from delicate touches to immersive full-body engagement, driven by trust, safety, and emotional connection. Participants frequently compared the robots to peaceful creatures like plants and sea animals, fostering playful and therapeutic interactions. These insights highlight the potential of giant soft robots in enhancing emotional well-being, therapeutic applications, and immersive experiences. This paper aims to inspire future designs that leverage the unique attributes of large-scale soft robots for trust-centered, interactive human-robot relationships.
Citation
Biswas, B., Powell, E., Nixdorf, R., Sewell, R., & Roudaut, A. (2025). Encounter with the giants: understanding interaction with large-scale inflatable soft robots. Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–15).
BibTeX
@inproceedings{biswas2025encounter, title={Encounter with the Giants: Understanding Interaction with Large-scale Inflatable Soft Robots}, author={Biswas, Bijetri and Powell, Emma and Nixdorf, Robert and Sewell, Richard and Roudaut, Anne}, booktitle={Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems}, pages={1--15}, year={2025} }