This paper presents Light Everywhere, a robotic lighting system that enhances flexibility in domestic spaces by traversing walls and ceilings to provide real-time, task-based illumination. We report a field investigation, an online study, and a between-subjects experiment (N=26) using the WoZ approach comparing Light Everywhere with a conventional desk lamp, evaluating perceived comfort, control, and spatial utilization. Results show the robot supports adaptive behaviors and dynamic space usage. Findings highlight the potential of robotic lighting to redefine housing flexibility and user-driven environmental control, "shedding light" on a novel HRI and smart home design.

Central to the human experience is establishing a connection with individuals who are unfamiliar with one another—strangers. We describe results from a field study that deployed SocialStools , a socio-spatial interface with mixed-reality experience, to support ice-breaking between strangers in a public space. Synthesizing existing social psychology theories, we propose a human behavior framework with distinct, interconnected behavioral components, and then apply this framework as an instrument to analyze the “ice-breaking” process amongst 81 strangers assigned to 27 groups using SocialStools . Our analysis identifies recurring behavioral patterns that demonstrate the fluid and emergent nature of interpersonal spatial adjustments, emphasizing the dynamic aspects of proxemics. Our contributions are the results of our empirical field study with a socio-spatial interface that advances our understanding of how strangers interact when uninstructed, and a theory-based, behavioral framework—an analytical instrument to examine the dynamic experience of ice-breaking.

We propose, examine prototypes of, and collect user input on morphing robotic surfaces, "robot-room" elements that, individually or in combination, change the functionality of the rooms we live in, directly controlled by the room’s occupants engaging with it. Robot-rooms represent an advance in human-robot interaction whereby human interaction is within a machine that physically envelops us. We discuss the motivation for such robot-rooms, present initial work aimed at their physical realization, and report on a user study of 80 participants to learn what people might want of and expect from robot rooms, the results of which will inform both the iterative design of the robot room and the thinking of our community as it grapples with how we want to live with (and "in") robots.

Children who live in out-of-home, residential care facilities have typically experienced adversity and trauma and consequentially exhibit psychological distress (e.g., despair, detachment). Residential care facilities are understaffed while needing to establish a healthy liaison between staff and children. This lamentable state of affairs has become more pressing following the Covid-19 pandemic. With expertise in design, robotics, interaction design, cognitive science, developmental psychology, and early childhood education, our research team has designed three early robotic prototypes that we call “e,” “Mo," and “Bo,” in our longer design endeavor to develop “eMoBo,” an interactive, non-humanoid robot for young children living in residential care facilities to playfully express themselves. The aim of this child-centered project is to provide the opportunity for children who have experienced hostile environments and inappropriate care to become aware of, regulate, and express their inner socio-emotional world via tactile and visual experimentation with eMoBo so that they might more easily communicate their feelings and needs with non-biological caregivers, striving for a significant, long-standing improvement in the wellbeing of these children. In this paper, we present our designs and envision their use in two use cases. The three prototypes will be shared with our research partners, the Hillside Residential Center (Rochester, New York) towards advancing the design of eMoBo with the Center's stakeholders.