AZRAM
Augmenting Zoomorphic Robots with Affective Interactions using Mixed Reality
Publications
Evaluating Transferable Emotion Expressions for Zoomorphic Social Robots using VR Prototyping
Shaun Macdonald, Robin Bretin, Salma Elsayed
23rd IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR), IEEE, IEEE, 2024 Oct
Latest News!
28/03/2025 - Presented a first look at the progress of the AZRAM project at the launch of the Realities and Immersion Glasgow research centre: https://bsky.app/profile/shaunmacdonald.bsky.social/post/3lljzsw2o222y
31/01/2025 - Published demo video showing augmented reality emotional displays and interactions.
03/01/2025 - AZRAM Officially Commences! Discovery and technical foundation work begins.
21/10/2024 - ISMAR paper about VR to prototyping Zoomorphic Robots published on IEEE Xplore!
31/01/2025 - Published demo video showing augmented reality emotional displays and interactions.
03/01/2025 - AZRAM Officially Commences! Discovery and technical foundation work begins.
21/10/2024 - ISMAR paper about VR to prototyping Zoomorphic Robots published on IEEE Xplore!
About
What is the next step needed to enable Zoomorphic robots to be truly compelling pet alternatives for everyday people?
AZRAM, Augmenting Zoomorphic Robots with Affective Interactions using Mixed Reality, is an EPSRC IAA project tackling this question using a novel Mixed Reality development and deployment approach. This project is led by Dr Shaun Macdonald and Dr Mark McGill from the Glasgow Interactive Systems Section (GIST) at the University of Glasgow School of Computing Science. AZRAM is being conducted in collaboration with the robot software partner Synthiam and Dr Salma Elsayed from Abertay University.
Background
Running from January to December 2025, AZRAM will accelerate scientific understanding and development of emotional interactions between everyday users and robot pets. Keeping pets has been a human habit for thousands of years and can have many health and well-being benefits. There are, however, many people who are unable to keep or maintain pets due to financial, tenancy, health or other reasons. Robot pets could provide an alternative, helping to provide social comfort, lower stress and tackle loneliness.
Current robot pets feature a limited set of short-term generalised interactions and struggle to maintain rich long-term relationships with most users. These robots are primarily deployed in healthcare settings and, in addition, prototyping and developing robots is expensive and time-consuming, impeding the development needed to make Zoomorphic robots a truly viable alternative to household pets.
What is the next step needed to enable Zoomorphic robots to be truly compelling pet alternatives for everyday people?
AZRAM, Augmenting Zoomorphic Robots with Affective Interactions using Mixed Reality, is an EPSRC IAA project tackling this question using a novel Mixed Reality development and deployment approach. This project is led by Dr Shaun Macdonald and Dr Mark McGill from the Glasgow Interactive Systems Section (GIST) at the University of Glasgow School of Computing Science. AZRAM is being conducted in collaboration with the robot software partner Synthiam and Dr Salma Elsayed from Abertay University.
Background
Running from January to December 2025, AZRAM will accelerate scientific understanding and development of emotional interactions between everyday users and robot pets. Keeping pets has been a human habit for thousands of years and can have many health and well-being benefits. There are, however, many people who are unable to keep or maintain pets due to financial, tenancy, health or other reasons. Robot pets could provide an alternative, helping to provide social comfort, lower stress and tackle loneliness.
Current robot pets feature a limited set of short-term generalised interactions and struggle to maintain rich long-term relationships with most users. These robots are primarily deployed in healthcare settings and, in addition, prototyping and developing robots is expensive and time-consuming, impeding the development needed to make Zoomorphic robots a truly viable alternative to household pets.
[Picture]
Prototyping novel emotional interactions with robot pets using mixed reality.
What will AZRAM do?
AZRAM will leverage the power of Mixed Reality to rapidly prototype and deploy new emotional interactions and intelligence for zoomorphic robots, accelerating the exploration of this design space. We will design and develop new ways for robot pets to maintain individual personalities, react to their owner's actions and express themselves to their owners, with the aim of building rich long-term relationships. We will use participatory prototyping and qualitative methods in the design, development and evaluation of these enhanced robot pets, shaping the future of these robots alongside end-users.
We envision Mixed Reality as not only a development tool but also as a way to enhance existing robots by projecting new emotional intelligence and emotional interactions onto them. In this way, Mixed Reality could be used to breathe new life into existing robots or even other beloved belongings such as stuffed toys.
Our findings and output will be delivered to market in collaboration with our industrial partner Synthiam ARC, an easy and powerful platform for programming robots.
To keep up with AZRAM, check this page for updates or follow Dr Shaun Macdonald on BlueSky, LinkedIn or X. If you would like to know more, get in touch at shaun.macdonald.research@gmail.com.