Text to Tangible
Build Your Own AI Companion
I hosted a full-day studio workshop at the annual Tangible Embedded Interaction (TEI) conference that profilerates research on interaction through physical objects and interfaces.
Roles: I planned and actively led the workshop. Facilitator Liz Kelly helped me in preparing, distributing supplies, managing the vinyl cutter, and troubleshooting.
Why explore the future of AI companion devices?
Most interactions with AI are text-based on screens. However, as AI is increasingly embedded in smart devices, the interactive components and interfaces of physical AI devices need to be explored.
I leveraged my industrial design background to build a hands-on workshop that taught the topics of emotional affordances, AI inputs/outputs, and contextualizing a companion for a specific person.
Recruitment
I submitted a studio workshop proposal to the TEI Conference. My submission was accepted with minor revisions. The Chairs suggested preparing the 3D-printed components prior to the session and creating examples of the AI Companions to advertise and explain the outcomes in the proposal.
Karina Bhattacharya 