Aesthetics
Related papers: 20
About
Aesthetics in robotics and AI refers to the study of how the visual appearance, movement, sound, and overall design of robots and intelligent systems influence human perception, emotion, and acceptance. Rooted in design theory and psychology, this field examines how qualities such as human-likeness, color, form, and expressive behavior shape whether people find robots appealing, trustworthy, or unsettling. A central concept is the "uncanny valley," coined by roboticist Masahiro Mori, which describes how robots that appear almost—but not perfectly—human tend to provoke discomfort rather than affinity. Beyond this phenomenon, aesthetics encompasses broader questions about how robotic design communicates gender, race, warmth, and cultural identity, often reflecting and reinforcing societal biases. In practice, engineers and designers use aesthetic principles to improve human-robot interaction, making systems more intuitive and emotionally engaging in contexts ranging from service robots to therapeutic companions. Understanding aesthetics matters because how a robot looks and moves profoundly affects user trust, adoption, and the ethical implications of deploying AI systems in everyday human environments.
Top Researchers
Top Institutes
Top Cited Papers
The Uncanny Valley [From the Field]
Masahiro Mori, Karl F. MacDorman, Norri Kageki
Citations: 3196 • 2012
Emotional design: why we love (or hate) everyday things
Citations: 3104 • 2004
Speculative everything: design, fiction, and social dreaming
Citations: 1983 • 2014
Feeling robots and human zombies: Mind perception and the uncanny valley
Kurt Gray, Daniel M. Wegner
Citations: 878 • 2012
The Uncanny Valley: Effect of Realism on the Impression of Artificial Human Faces
Jun’ichiro Seyama, Ruth S. Nagayama
Citations: 565 • 2007
Eliza in the uncanny valley: anthropomorphizing consumer robots increases their perceived warmth but decreases liking
Seoyoung C. Kim, Bernd H. Schmitt, Nadia Magnenat‐Thalmann
Citations: 468 • 2019
Digital Performance
Steve Dixon
Citations: 451 • 2007
Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind
Eliot A. Cohen, Hans Moravec
Citations: 428 • 1999
Reconfiguring Boundary Relations: Robotic Innovations in Pharmacy Work
Michael Barrett, Eivor Oborn, Wanda J. Orlikowski, JoAnne Yates
Citations: 416 • 2011
Can we control it? Autonomous robots threaten human identity, uniqueness, safety, and resources
Jakub Złotowski, Kumar Yogeeswaran, Christoph Bartneck
Citations: 391 • 2016
Does Japan really have robot mania? Comparing attitudes by implicit and explicit measures
Karl F. MacDorman, Sandosh K. Vasudevan, Chin-Chang Ho
Citations: 330 • 2008
Flies Evade Looming Targets by Executing Rapid Visually Directed Banked Turns
Florian T. Muijres, Michael J. Elzinga, Johan M. Melis, Michael H. Dickinson
Citations: 315 • 2014
Empirical studies on the Maker Movement, a promising approach to learning: A literature review
Sofia Papavlasopoulou, Michail N. Giannakos, Letizia Jaccheri
Citations: 313 • 2016
Gender and the Physiognomy of Dominance and Attractiveness
Caroline F. Keating
Citations: 300 • 1985
Why Red Doesn’t Sound Like a BellUnderstanding the feel of consciousness
J. Kevin Ο’Regan
Citations: 288 • 2011
‘But obviously not for me’: robots, laboratories and the defiant identity of elder test users
Louis Neven
Citations: 268 • 2010
Captivating technology: race, carceral technoscience, and liberatory imagination in everyday life
Christine Hauskeller, Clara Hick
Citations: 258 • 2020
The Whiteness of AI
Stephen Cave, Kanta Dihal
Citations: 252 • 2020
Leveraging “human-likeness” of robotic service at restaurants
Lu Lu, Pei Zhang, Tingting Zhang
Citations: 248 • 2020
Is The Uncanny Valley An Uncanny Cliff?
Christoph Bartneck, Takayuki Kanda, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Norihiro Hagita
Citations: 237 • 2007