Robotchef (7)| Micro UX

03/6/21–10/6/21

📰Brief: “Design the social relation and interaction between a robot chef and its human guest.”

🤝Teammates: Eda. Luchen. Max. Rikkie

🙌External Partner: Moley Robotics

Based on previous findings, we started to think about how do we find the intersection between human language and robot language to shape our social relations. Could we develop a language system that could help us communicate with robots more naturally? After reanalyzing, and categorizing gestures, we believe we could build blocks of a language and syntax behind its language that humans and a robotic kitchen can use to communicate. In that situation, we get a concept -a Kitchen language kit designed for designers, which contains gesture cards, scenario cards, an instructional leaflet, and some test tables.

Target Audience

Designers could use this kit to do a co-design exercise with their users, engineers, or other partners. Designers could use this kit to do a co-design exercise with their users, engineers, or other partners. With these tools, Designers can summarize the regular pattern of gesture language and expand the library of gesture. For example, we found that if people want to ask the robot to pass a plate for them, they usually make a plate gesture at first to express their target, and then use the gesture “give me” to express the use of the plate. And this gesture language is often expressed by verbs. in this process, they even use some actions to modify these verbs or nouns as adverbs. Therefore, we classify gestures according to this classification standard and set a simple basic grammar (grammar and gestures can be enriched and improved by designers in constant practice)

Gesture Card — words, the blocks of language.

Gesture cards ( gesture drew by me, Rikkie and MAX: card designed by me and Rikkie)

Signal: using signal words could attract the attention of the robot.

Target: highlighting objects to be used.

Action: often following the target.

Quantity: modifing the action. Like a tiny bit.

Movement: indicating the robot needs to reposition.

Scenario cards and Test table

Scenario cards ( designed by myself)

There are complex scenes that will happen in the kitchen, and the use of scenario cards can help designers to design gestures that can better express and accommodate users’ complex intentions in facing potential scenes in the future.

Test Table ( designed by Rikkie)

Because this tool is designed for designers，we build a test table to let the designer record participants’ test results, Like the gesture participant chose and add, how they structure the gestures in a sequence to express their intention. and also it could record the Designer’s analysis findings. Like how do they improved exciting gestures and what gestures do they lack to cope with the more complex situation in the future.

How to use this kit?

Instructions for using steps. ( drew by Rikkie)

Why this tool kit is way to lead a good analysis?

1. A co-design activity would facilitate users help designers to shape the direction of developing this language
2. Creating social relations between a human and a robotic chef would be an ongoing project. So by producing a standardized kit that captures information that improves the nuances of this language, we can have a system that is constantly evolving. Here we have a positive feedback loop, the results improving our input — the set of gestures the users or designers can work with.
3. Help to communicate ideas quickly. The cards in the kit help the participants to structure thoughts about how they might act in the situation given.
4. We hope that this kit will guide the future design and categorization of gestures.

Final Outcome

Kitchen language kit ( image: Rikkie, John Fass, and Max. Image order from top to bottom）

Feedback and Reflection

On the one hand, Classmates and Partners indicated that the concept was very interesting, and they look forward that we continue to develop this system and wonder know whether it can be applied to other fields such as driverless cars.

On the other hand, we still have something which needed to be improved. We ought to have a clear message or aim that would give us more confidence to talk about it， and we need to frame our explanation so it makes sense to non-designers.

Generally speaking, although this project is very challenging, I have learned a lot from it.

1. Good teamwork must need a leader， otherwise， it will be a disaster.
2. How to pass on the complex idea to others clearly is the ability that designers need to cultivate and exercise constantly
3. Too much focus on presented painpoints will make us lose the ability to look to the future.