Moley Robotics
Designing interactions and relations for a robot chef and its human guests
Human-Robot Interactions Matrix | Micro Interactions
student project, MAUX LCC | team: Ana Garcia, Sylvester Lau, Tiana Robison
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introduction
Collaborating with Moley Robotics, the world's first robotic kitchen was a part of the MA UX course, at London College of Communication, UAL. We worked to design relations and interactions with a robot chef and its human guests. We used body storming, role-playing, multi-modal analysis, playtesting, prototyping, and speculative design to create 16 modes of a design method for exploring the human-robot interactions.
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Understanding the small-scale, the intimate, the personal, and the interpersonal interactions that are gained and lost with the automation of a domestic space were the aims of this project.
body storming - understanding our surroundings
The Moley robot being in the pre-sale stage had limited research, information, and feedback from their target users. Unable to visit the Moley kitchen due to the pandemic guidelines, made us question how we could envision designing interactions for a robotic chef and its human guests.
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We decided to use body storming as a method to explore our own cooking journeys to understand the existing relations we have with the food, utensils, machines (oven, hob, kettle), and other people as well. This investigation got us to realising the intimate and micro roles that exist during the preparation, cooking, dining, and cleaning up processes. Upon comparison with the existing Moley product, we realised there was a lack of layered intimacies emotions, and connections.
Our body storming process
We extended this body storming to participants to impersonate the role of the robot chef and human guest. This experimentation got us to realising that the robot was in control of the social movements and interactions in the domestic setting, allowing for only a particular set of actions and movements to dominate.
prototyping and iterating our experience
Body storming was a successful design method, but we needed to iterate and refine our setup, the space around it, the robot chef, and the props in use to be able to get a more profound role-play experience. Our iterations led us to create a 1:1 scale kitchen set up which had a space for the robot hands to come out from the wall.
Creating a mockup of the kitchen setup
1:1 scale kitchen setup
Introducing real food which added to the textures of a domestic kitchen
Having direct human and robot interactions
human-robot relation and interactions matrix
Our numerous rounds of role-playing exploring variants like emotions, degrees of human and robot involvement, and adjusting the setup made us realise the complex layers of human-robot relations. Instead of trying to create one scenario with the perfect level of connections, the team decided to look at understanding existing automated systems and apply those to the robot cooking scenario. This led to creating a research framework for the human-robot interaction.
This is a grid showing the degree of relations and interactions of existing robots and automated systems. The aim of this was to adjust the matrix and design similar patterns of relations for the robotic chef
Our matrix of Human-Robot interactions and relations
Final outcome - Physical interactions and social relations of a robot chef with its human guests
This research method allows designers and engineers to create machines and automated systems with the ability to set degrees of micro relations, interactions, and connections. This matrix has two interrelated axes being physical interactions and social relations. Each axis is divided into four levels: minimum, low, high, maximum. This led to 16 behavioral modes with a range of connectedness between a human and robot chef. This matrix was supported by a manual that had a short description and a list of features each mode offered as well.
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The 16 behavioral modes can be seen on the project website:
https://moleychef.wixsite.com/microux
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The entire project can be seen on my blog: https://mehtas1702.wixsite.com/blog/copy-of-macro-ux
