FISSuRe

While soft robotic manipulators are intrinsically safer than rigid manipulators, they may be perceived as threats due to diminished movement legibility, increased risks of movement singularities, and their animal-like appearances. This project leverages virtual reality (VR) setups and methods from speculative design to study perceived safety when users are immersed in interactive tasks with virtual realistic plant-like and animal-like soft robots. We posit the aesthetic of soft robots has a strong impact on this factor and it may have been overlooked.