Hardware Podcasts

242: The Cilantro of Robots

Embedded.fm · 20 Apr 2018 · 57m · Episode 242

What this episode covers

Christine Sunu, creative director at Flash Bang Product Development and creator of Hack Pretty, discusses 'emotive technology'—designing physical products to evoke specific human emotions. She details her projects like the 'Starfish Cat' and 'Fur Worm,' explaining how minimal cues like movement and heat-seeking sensors can trigger deep empathy or discomfort in users. Sunu warns about the ethical implications of manipulating human instinct, citing Sherry Turkle's research on children's reactions to robots, and advocates for designing interfaces that augment human agency rather than automate relationships.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Flash Bang Product Development, Particle, BuzzFeed
Products
Hack Pretty, Starfish Cat, Fur Worm, Keepon Robot, Roomba, Furby, Tamagotchi, Amazon Echo, R2D2, Hal, Kismet
Also
Accelerando, Alone Together, Reclaiming Conversation, Other Minds, Sherry Turkle, Peter Godfrey-Smith

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