KUKA in Love — Speculative Interaction Design

Experimental design research project exploring the anthropomorphisation of intelligent machines and the projection of human social behaviours onto autonomous systems.

Developed in collaboration with a User Interface designer, the project combined industrial robotics, storytelling, photography and interaction design to construct a fictional narrative around a KUKA industrial robot. Through a series of staged visual scenarios, the robot was reimagined as a workplace actor, raising questions about gender attribution, emotional projection and human-machine relationships.

The project investigated how technological systems acquire perceived identities and intentions through human interpretation, and how cultural assumptions can shape our understanding of machine behaviour.

Scope:

• Speculative Design
• User Experience Design
• Interaction Design
• Concept Development
• Photography & Visual Storytelling
• Human–Machine Interaction
• KUKA Robotics / Processing / Cura

Outcome: The project resulted in an experimental narrative, through spatial design and visual series examining the intersection of automation, gender, agency and workplace culture within emerging technological environments.