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About

Kazuya Horibe is a pioneering researcher working at the intersection of soft robotics, artificial intelligence, and human-robot interaction. His work explores some of the most imaginative frontiers in modern robotics, with a particular focus on biologically inspired self-repair mechanisms and unconventional robot design. Horibe's most influential contribution, "Regenerating Soft Robots Through Neural Cellular Automata" (2021), has accumulated 27 citations and introduces a groundbreaking approach to morphological regeneration in soft robots — enabling machines to recover their structure and function after damage, much like living organisms. This theme continues in his 2022 work on differentiable programming for severe damage recovery, further advancing the resilience of adaptive machines. Perhaps his most novel contribution is his exploration of edible robotics: his 2024 study on pneumatically-driven edible robots investigates the psychological and sensory experience of consuming animated food, opening entirely new dialogues around food technology, human perception, and robotic design. With a growing citation record and research spanning self-healing systems to edible machines, Horibe represents a bold, interdisciplinary voice pushing the boundaries of what robots can be and do.