S(kin)-Orb
Robotic Entity
+ In collaboration with Manini Banerjee
+ Guided by Cynthia Lu
+ Robotics, Material Exploration, Speculative Design, 3D, CMF
+ Blender, Arduino, Fabrication
Showcased at the EMOTIONAL // DURABLE Exhibition at Sol Koffler Gallery
The S-Orb is a robotic entity that interrogates the boundaries of the uncanny valley through its amorphous skin-like embodiment.
When a person is anxious, their heart starts to race. When they are scared, they get goosebumps. These are bodily reactions that we cannot hide.
The S-Orb lets us connect at an elemental level.
It’s a symphony of pulse, skin, fluid, and sensation that comes together to create unexplainable and unspoken human-to-human and human-to-robotic bonds. We have substituted metal and screws for skin and veins - thus ushering in this renaissance of what we perceive to be robots to be and their appearance within humanity. While interaction with humanoid robots still remains unsettling, the S-Orb acts as an intermediary stepping stone to introduce amorphous interaction to users to ease our adoption of these robots.
The robot acts as an object of telepresence that permits remote human connection in a tangible way. The S-Orb reflects human emotion by reading its user’s electromyographic signals. Thus, triggering spinal motion, sweat, and heat responses. This creates an innate human language which is expressed through the S-Orb’s embodiment.
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