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OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW
The Mugler aesthetic, defined by extreme, exaggerated performance, served as a foundational conceptual inquiry for my HRI research:
How can transparent performance—the deliberate control of presentation—mediate trust and uncertainty in non-human systems?
Challenges:
To establish the design principles for an Emotional Boundary that allows for Affective Engagement without triggering the psychological threat of the Uncanny Valley.
Exaggerated poses blending human and machine aesthetics
Exaggerated poses blending human and machine aesthetics
Phase 1:
Setting the Aesthetic
Phase 2:
Testing Predictability
Phase 2:
Testing Predictability
Two-Way Boundary Design
This installation acted as a controlled experiment in aesthetic mimicry,
testing boundaries between human and robotic elements.
Human Performer → Robot Choreography
Humans adopted rigid, mechanical poses and motions in the campaign video.
Aesthetic Honesty
Creates an "AI/Robot Buffer" aesthetic (adopting rigid, mechanical poses) that rejects perfect human imitation, reducing Uncanny Valley threats.
Physical Robot → Human Motion
A physical robot in the store, that mirrored the human performers' motions.
Affective Predictability
Builds psychological safety by enforcing human-sanctioned, foreseeable patterns in machine behavior.
By enforcing this predictable, non-deceptive theatrical choreography, we demonstrated how to build psychological safety in machine behavior.
The most vital evidence was the audience's emotional response.
We measured success not by simple viral reach, but by the quality of confusion.
When visitors asked, "Is this human or robot?" followed by a positive affirmation, it proved the intentional boundary was successful.
Click the button to see the qualitative proof of trust-building through ambiguity.
Real or Rehearsed?
Designing the Emotional Boundary of the Robots
2024
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