Everything Is a Robot (and Nothing Is)

2026. Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Amy Ingold, Jessica R. Cauchard, Lisa May Thomas, Madeline Balaam, Ellen Weir, Anne Roudaut, Alice C Haynes, Amy Winters & Zhuzhi Fan.

What is a robot, and who gets to decide? As robots evolve beyond metallic humanoids into drones, inflatable architectures, shape-changing materials, AI agents, and garments, the category itself is breaking apart. Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Robot Interaction are not just responding to this shift, they are actively reshaping it. With its focus on interaction, embodiment, proxemics, aesthetics, and lived experience, HCI offers unique tools to interrogate and redefine the essence of robotics. This two-session workshop brings together researchers, designers, and provocateurs to map emerging definitions, challenge disciplinary boundaries, and build a research roadmap for the future of HCI-driven relational robotics. Together, we will explore what robots are becoming and what they could be when interaction takes center stage.

Full paper

https://sites.google.com/view/whatisachirobot

Citation

Ingold, A., Cauchard, J. R., Thomas, L. M., Balaam, M., Weir, E., Roudaut, A., … Fan, Z. (2026). Everything is a robot (and nothing is). Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–5).

BibTeX

@inproceedings{ingold2026everything, title={Everything Is a Robot (and Nothing Is)}, author={Ingold, Amy and Cauchard, Jessica R and Thomas, Lisa May and Balaam, Madeline and Weir, Ellen and Roudaut, Anne and Haynes, Alice C and Winters, Amy and Fan, Zhuzhi}, booktitle={Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems}, pages={1--5}, year={2026} }