Once More, With Feeling: Exploring Relatable Robotics at Disney

This is a guest post. The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not represent positions of IEEE Spectrum or the IEEE.

Most robotics projects focus on the output: What does this robot do? Is it reliable, is it precise, and can it achieve its goals? But at Disney, our focus is on the story: How does this robot make you feel? Is it emotive, is it relatable, and does it authentically reflect a character people know in its mannerisms, gait, or expressions?

This context changes everything. Take walking, for example—in robotics, it’s generally a priority to maximize…