ABSTRACT
This chapter critically addresses a blind spot related to material selection in personal robot design. Robots are usually designed with materials chosen for convenience and engineering functionality, resulting in machines overwhelmingly made up of plastic and metal. When it comes to personal and home robots, this choice does not fit with the rest of the designed environment we live in, where manufactured objects feature diverse and thoughtful material choices that build on millennia of craft and design traditions. This chapter argues that, when faced with material choices, designers of personal robots should go beyond mere pragmatism, embracing cultural and affective facets that contribute to producing a holistic relationship between humans and their artifacts. It lists four ways in which materials affect the interaction between users and manufactured objects, with lessons for personal robot designers. To provide a concrete example, Blossom is a robot designed with the intentional use of traditional craft materials, like wool and wood, embodying a speculative suggestion to expand the scope of material imagination in personal robot design.
