I worked for a robotics start-up company as a primary designer (2018-2021). I designed the robot’s entire ID process and designed the robot’s Website and Application prototypes with all assets.
" Bringing empathy to robots with AI "
ZoeticAI is a start-up robot company based in Santa Clara, CA
Kiki is a robot that learns from you and grows with you. Powered by cutting-edge AI, every Kiki develops a unique set of traits based on how the owner interacts with her. Every interaction with Kiki is meaningful and every experience helps her become a better companion for you.
Industrial design
Website design
Application design
Time
Kiki uses multiple motors to move naturally and express emotions
The wide-angle camera enables advanced AI algorithms to recognize faces, human emotions, and many objects
The microphone array identifies where sound comes from
Kiki feels movement and understands orientation using its inertial measurement unit
Kiki knows where you are petting with its 16 touch sensors all over
A full color IPS screen brings life to Kiki's face, allowing infinite eye expressiveness
When I joined the company, the engineers gave me this frame
and said, "make this feel alive"
This robot will be presented at CES next year.
So, I had 1 month to design.
I thought it was a little bigger than the robot concept. I wanted the robot to be easy to carry around and comfortable holding. A small robot appears more vulnerable, which makes it cuter.
But we had limited time for presenting to CES. I made a static prototype for the smaller version. I studied these two robots with children.
The result favored the more miniature robot by a large margin.
The engineers redesigned the interior and gave me the minimum possible size.
With the new limits, I began a new design.
" The eye is the window to the soul "
Robots help people but also sometimes lead to people being fearful of them.
People often think of robots as new creatures instead of just standard products.
So the robot's eye design is essential to connect with people.
With input from the software engineers, I designed the eyes to be easily rendered, while looking both robotic and cartoonish.
Baby kiki
I designed the distance between the pupils and removed the eyebrows.
I gave the eyes several layers to make them look shiny.
Young kiki
For a childlike look, I widened the distance between the eyes and, for various expressions, drew short LED eyebrows,
kiki
I designed more focused pupils for an intelligent look. I drew strong LED eyebrows for robotics and expressions.
Baby Kiki
Young Kiki
Kiki
Kiki is always there for you, and she loves you just as much as you love her. She’s your loyal companion, keeping you company when you’re together, and missing you when you’re apart.
Kiki learns and grows depending on how you care for her. She is different every day and is always full of surprises.
CES is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association.
and the most influential tech event in the world
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I drew Kiki with a three-color print for our team t-shirts.
I should have put "Kiki" instead of "Z" on the front. This was my mysterious mistake on spreading the news about our new robot Kiki.
I had never attended a CES event before I designed our booth. I looked at pictures of the previous start-up booths. I noticed that most of the booths were plain and unassuming. So I designed colorful walls and installed lights to make our robot stand out.
Fortunately, I had a chance to design our table, and our booth was on the corner. I removed the aisle side panel to see into our booth from the outside aisle. And I put a carpet as the same color aisle carpet for people to feel free to come in our booth.
2019 CES
Our booth was more popular than the other robotics booth
Designing web site prototype with all assets
Make a visual graphic, Assets for Kickstarter
Project launches
JULY 30, 2019
...
Working on its APP and Web pages...
