The Tel Aviv Museum of Art hosted an installation by artist Ronen Sharabani — a complex video art piece that incorporated simple robotic arms based on Hugging Face SO-100 hardware. We were involved because we had one question: how does movement change the way people perceive a robot?
Organic vs. mechanical
We tested two modes of movement: mechanical (precise, linear, robotic) and organic (fluid, slightly imprecise, natural). The way visitors approached the two modes felt different. Mechanical movement drew attention. The softer movement invited people to stay near the robots longer.
Kids petted them
That's not a metaphor. Children walked up to the robots and stroked them gently, the way you'd pet a cat. They talked to them. They attributed emotions to them — "I think this one is tired", "this one is looking at me." Adults weren't much different. They leaned in, lowered their voices, and treated the robots with a kind of tenderness that no one shows a smartphone or a smart speaker.
What this means for Muse
That observation now informs the gestures and responses we are testing for Muse. The goal is not to pretend the robot is alive. It is to make its attention easy to read: where it is looking, when it is listening, and when it is waiting for the child to take the next step.