Designing robots with character

What would you say is missing in the robots we see today. According to Tommie Varekamp, an industry designer, it's character. We are obsessed with what kind of complicated movements our robots can make, yet sometimes those movements just aren't adding any value to our lives.

Instead, Tommie took inspiration from our beloved animation films. Robots in these films not only make movements, but they are given characters. And that, Tommie argues, is the reason we love them and want to interact with them. In consumer robotics a lot of attention is given to technical achievements, especially to create humanoid robots. Industrial designer Tommie Varekamp argues that robots with less technology, but more focus on character are better at bringing technology closer to users and humans in general. Tommie Varekamp works as designer and project manager at Orange Creatives, an international design agency in Guangzhou. Having studied ‘Design for Interaction’ in the Netherlands, he gets really enthusiastic about the user experience of smart products. Especially when cooperating with all the involved disciplines, to make sure that everyone contributes to one coherent design.