OMOY: A Handheld Robotic Gadget that Shifts its Weight to Express Emotions and Intentions

A robotic gadget that is equipped with a movable weight inside its body is developed. By controlling the movement of the internal weight together with other robotic behaviors such as hand gestures or speech dialogues, it is expected that emotional and/or intentional messaging between users is enhanced. To gain knowledge for designing effective weight shifts, an elicitation study was conducted to investigate how users holding this gadget in their hand interpreted its 36 weight shift patterns generated by setting four basic movement parameters (target position, trajectory, speed, and repetition). Results present mappings between these parameters and the emotional perception of the users. Furthermore, specific weight shift patterns that can express certain human emotions and intentions are revealed. These findings will be useful for designing effective weight shifts to enhance emotional and intentional messaging between users. This study attempts to open a new dimension for the expression capability of robotic gadgets.