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The aesthetics of robot design: towards a classification of morphologies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

Dean Aaron Ollah Mobed ,
Andrew Wodehouse  and
Anja Maier
Dean Aaron Ollah Mobed*
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
Andrew Wodehouse
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom
Anja Maier
Affiliation:
University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
*
dean.mobed.2016@uni.strath.ac.uk

Abstract

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Robots are becoming increasingly prevalent in the workplace. As Industry 5.0 pursues human-centric technologies, a greater understanding of what effects aesthetics has on those interacting with robots is needed. This paper sets out robot morphology as a way to characterise key form types, and proposes seven classifications: anthropomorphism, zoomorphism, phytomorphism, artemorphism, functiomorphism, amorphism, and neomorphism. Through an assessment of the current robot aesthetic landscape, design dimensions are identified with examples that can inform future robot design.

Keywords

industrial designaestheticsdesign aestheticsrobot aestheticsmorphology

Information

Type
Industrial Design
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 4: DESIGN 2024 , May 2024 , pp. 2413 - 2422
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2024.

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