Robot design

White in colour
Large bright eyes, almost anime-like in style
Cartoon like features: Soft curves, no edges, sometimes blob like
In most cases, childlike in appearance
About as tall as a 5-10 year old child
The robot’s screen either serves a dual-purpose as its face and interaction point, or is appended to their chest
Has human features, such as hands, face, eyes, but avoids making them look too realistic
Its face can convey cartoon like expressions such as: happiness, anger (in a cute way), distress (also in a cute way)
Have some form of body-language that resemble what a human does

Large eyes, soft features, childlike appearance, and body language make the robot seem non-threatening, approachable, friendly, and cute (Cook, 2018). Very important for if you are dealing with real humans. White colour adds to this, as it is associated with safety, innocence and cleanliness (Cherry, 2020).
Allows the robot to be used in a variety of contexts without needing to change the design, which saves on production costs. For example, this particular model of robot has been used as a gimmick for a store front (www.youtube.com/watch?v=v931a6sPUZw) and as a lecturer (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amfrm2V_KO0).
Avoids crossing the uncanny valley, which is probably the most important aspect of the design. If you attempt to make a robot that looks too much like a real person, it will end up looking surreal, strange or sometimes creepy (Azarian, 2016).
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq36J9pNaEo
  While the AI is very impressive, the jerky mouth and hand movements are off putting.

Dot’s current design has several of the the above features, including a cute cartoony design, and avoids the uncanny valley, but resembles a penguin more than a human. While penguins are both cute and friendly-looking, it limits the contexts in which Dot can be used. The penguin design would be visually appropriate in the arctic section of a zoo, but not much else. Switching to a more human-blob-like design may increase the approachability of Dot in the context we want it to be used for.
While complicated body-language may be out of reach considering our resources, cartoonish facial expressions should be fairly straightforward to implement. Not only would this give Dot a bit more depth, but would also be effective for comedic effect or an “aww” factor. A few examples:
- If Dot gets stuck, beads of sweat could appear and their eyes could screw up as it tries to free itself.
- If someone taps on Dot’s screen before it has initiated a quiz proper, it could display a cartoony angry face or one of discomfort.
- An extra happy face when someone completes the quiz, says “thank you” or something along those lines.

[Meet Germany’s first robot lecturer

DW Documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amfrm2V_KO0)

[Meet Sophia, World’s First AI Humanoid Robot

Tony Robbins](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq36J9pNaEo)

Dot Portfolio