Video

Spyridon Ampanavos

The Brief

Nya Rudek

The Scaredy Crab brings attention to a highly debated argument when it comes to animals and their grasp on conciseness. This project takes this issue one step further, challenging a robot to trick the user into believing it has conciseness. In order to trigger empathy from the user, The Scaredy Crab reacts to the threat of physical abuse. The Scaredy Crab is easy to relate to because it plays on two different emotions that humans commonly feel: joy and fear. 

This robot's behavior is partially based off a The Scaredy Crab's. It has a shell and scurries around obstacles as a The Scaredy Crab would. The user gets attached to the playful side of this robot, but when they accidentally appear to be stepping on it or threatening it in any physical way, the robot scurries away as an actual animal would. This robot is made with 2 sets triangular wheels going each way, allowing it to switch directions and play around the user. The robot has a sensor attached to the front to direct it and another attached to the body to detect any physical threats. The The Scaredy Crab causes the user to emotionally attach to the robot and realize how quickly humans can feels empathic toward something that isn't even human.

Process

Flora Doremus and Nya Rudek
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