eMoBo: Interactive Robotic Prototypes for Children

Bridge and Relate - Nonverbal Prompts Between Children and Adults in Residential Care Settings

# The eMoBo project is ongoing. Only progress through June 2023 is recorded here. Check here for our full article for IDC 2023.

 

Children who live in residential care centers have typically experienced adversity and trauma, thus they can be vulnerable, occasionally showing psychological distress, and may have trouble communicating their feelings and needs - more so with non-related caregivers. However, the facilities may be understaffed and struggle with establishing a healthy relationship between staff and children. Placing at the forefront the ultimate goal of “empowering young children in residential care centers to unguardedly express themselves”, our research team has designed three early robotic prototypes that we call “e,” “Mo," and “Bo,” in our longer design endeavor to develop the interactive, non-humanoid robot “eMoBo”. We want eMoBo to be the bridge for young kids to get aware of, coordinate, and express their inner emotional world comfortably via tactile and visual experimentation, striving for their long-standing well-being.

 
 

The video was directed and edited by Fannie Massarsky.

 
 

 e: Physical Engagement & Ice-breaker

 

”e” was developed by Joshua Blair and Alyssa Yoon.

 
 

Prototype “e”, a ball-shaped toy wrapped by clear plastic, encourages aerodynamic movement; it is designed to prompt children to engage with it physically, such as twirling and shaking it. When the child shakes the ball, “e” reacts by changing the LEDs from cyan to purple in quick succession. These functions encourage the child to toss the ball around in various ways, warming them up to more openness, and it also gives the staff or therapist some insight into how the child is doing emotionally, and serve as an ice-breaker to a therapy session.

 
 
 
 

Mo: Proximity & Touch

 

I built “Mo” by hacking from another project of mine, Boxy. “Mo” comes with one ultrasonic distance sensor as input, and one RGB LED stick, one buzzer and two servos as output.

Prototype “Mo” resembles a small animal that welcomes proximity and touch. It has a rectangular opening on one of its sides where wiggly eyes open and close. We chose to install the wiggle eyes to provide “Mo” with liveliness and to further encourage children’s imagination. The eyes remain closed in the bright ambient but snap open when the sensibility features determine someone approaching, then it emits yellow light and a happy tune to show its excitement. We aim to provide positive feedback from proximity and touch for children with traumatic experiences, fostering a more healthy relationship with physical interaction for them.

 

Bo: Small Figures in Secret Compartment

Eli Vicarte and I crafted Bo together. Bo is equipped with two ultrasonic distance sensors, one button, and one rotary encoder as input, as well as two servos and one RGB LED as output.

Prototype “Bo” is a box with a compartment that prompts children to insert miniature 3D figures of their choice - we have included a variety of characters such as a nuclear family, father, mother, grandparents, and teacher, courtesy of Thingiverse. These figures represent different natures of a social relationship; the caregiver should instruct the children to select the one they feel the most related to at the moment. The child would then put the figure of their choice into the compartment, where it sprouts out anemone-like tentacles. The compartment can be opened and closed to provide privacy, and the box welcomes touch by shining brighter as one comes close to it, functioning as a positive feedback loop.

 

Ice Breaker & Emotion Hint

For therapy sessions in residential care centers, eMoBo can serve as an ice breaker between the child and the therapist, also as a hint of children’s current emotions. Below are two use case examples.

While interacting with “e”, the child chooses to shake the ball repeatedly. The therapist observing the child interprets the repeated action as a sign of agitation or being overwhelmed. The child’s behavior with “e” can serve as an ice breaker and provide further emotional insight before starting a therapy session.

A child repeatedly inserts the father-son figure into the compartment of “Bo”, and a staff member or therapist may initiate a conversation about the child’s feelings toward their father. The figures were inspired by Furman’s research showing that mother and father figures were most often turned to for affection, enhancement of worth, and more [1].

 

Advanced Prototype: Breathing Ball

After receiving valuable feedback from our partner, Hillside Residential Center, we went on to develop an advanced prototype, “breathing ball.”, which owns the combined advantages from our three early prototypes. It starts breathing prompts after the child covers two randomly lit up LEDs on the ball’s surface – the breathing ball is aimed to calm children down when they are facing a crisis.

This advanced prototype was crafted by Joshua Blair and Eli Vicarte.

 
 

IDC’23

In June 2023, we brought our prototypes “e”, “Mo”, and “Bo” to Chicago - we showcased them at the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children (IDC) Conference, where we gained valuable insights into our next step: prototype optimization and user study with young children.

 

Showcased at IDC’23 on June 20, 2023

 
 

 

Duration

2022/09-2023/06

Lab

Architectural Robotics Lab

Instructors

Dr. Keith Evan Green & Dr. Yarden Kedar

Team Members

Joshua Blair, Eli Vicarte, Hsin-Ming Chao, Lucia Pannunzio, Fannie Massarsky, Alyssa Yoon

In June 2023, we demonstrated eMoBo in the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children (IDC) Conference in Chicago, IL. Our team, directed by PI Dr. Keith Evan Green and Dr. Yarden Kedar, developed all three prototypes in the Architectural Robotics Lab at Cornell University. This project was funded by Cornell’s Residential Child Card Project (RCCP) and collaborated with Hillside Residential Center.

[1] Furman, W. Buhrmester, D. 2010. Network of Relationships Inventory. Developmental Psychology, [s. l.], v. 21, n. 6, p. 1016–1024.