Prototyping a human-building interface with multiple mobile robots

Recent advances in miniature mobile robotic research
have generated possibilities and potentials in a range of fields such
as the military, rescue operations, logistics and education. Within
architecture, especially in responsive architecture and architectural
interface disciplines, there has been minimal uptake of this technology,
and so its full potential and implications have not been fully explored.
In this paper, we propose a design exploration of a human-building
interface (HBI) with multiple mobile robots serving as ‘physical pixels’,
which investigates the latent possibilities of public interactive displays
and media screens, potentially provoking interaction with existing built
environments. The outcomes of this paper include an early-stage design
study of an HBI prototype, PixelFace, which has been developed with
multiple spherical mobile robots and an existing building structure. An
early physical implementation of the HBI as an interactive public display
with real-time physical movement that encourages playful interaction is
also included.