Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
soft robotics
tactile storytelling
emotion representation
embodied interaction
multisensory perception
Literary Emotions in Motion: A Soft Robotics Installation for Tactile Storytelling
🤖 AI Summary
This work explores the translation of affective content from literary texts into tangible haptic experiences to enhance emotional resonance in artistic installations. We present an interactive soft robotic system that leverages a natural language model to identify primary and secondary emotions in textual input, actuating seven hexagonal pneumatic soft actuators—central for primary emotion and peripheral for secondary emotion—while integrating LED color and actuator stiffness modulation for multisensory affective expression. The study introduces a novel paradigm mapping textual emotional semantics to stiffness control of soft modules and develops low-cost, easily fabricable thin-film silicone actuators with a broad stiffness tuning range. User studies demonstrate that coupling stiffness variation with color significantly enhances emotional perception, underscoring the system’s potential in affective human–robot interaction and immersive narrative environments.
📝 Abstract
Soft robotics is increasingly explored in artistic contexts, where tactile interaction provides audiences with embodied engagement beyond visual or auditory signals. This work presents an interactive installation that maps semantic emotion analysis of narrative text into variable stiffness of soft pneumatic modules. A natural language model identifies two dominant emotions from a predefined set of six, driving the inflation of seven hexagonally arranged soft actuators. The central actuator represents the primary emotion, while the surrounding ones express the secondary. We develop and mechanically characterize silicone actuators, called soft modules, featuring a thin membrane layer, demonstrating how this morphological control expands the achievable stiffness range while preserving simplicity and low-cost fabrication. A user study with ten participants further evaluates how multisensory coupling of stiffness and LEDs intensity influences emotional perception. The results suggest that stiffness modulation accompanied by color change can support emotionally meaningful and engaging tactile interaction in soft robotic installations.
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
soft robotics
tactile storytelling
emotion-driven actuation
variable stiffness
multisensory interaction
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