Attack Of The Cutebots

Robots that look like cartoon characters are better at manipulating people than robots that resemble humans:

Letting go of reality entirely yields a lot of advantages. An early copy of instructions to Disney animators shows that a “cute type” character has several set characteristics that can’t be found in reality. A massively oversized head with large eyes, a tiny nose and mouth, and a huge forehead is cute. It’s especially cute if it’s set on a big body with stubby limbs. That’s a physical type that people find immediately endearing. Tap into that immediate appeal, and you can get away with a lot.

A robot created at MIT roped people into doing on-camera interviews by harnessing the power of cuteness. Boxie was nothing more than a big cardboard box head stacked on a little cardboard box body, with rollers for legs. It had big eyes, a tiny upturned curve of a mouth, and a toddler voice. It roamed around in public randomly, asking for help in its little voice, and people came up to it, lifted it to camera level, and happily gave interviews. Imagine if there was just a camera and list of instructions in Boxie’s place. Would you take time out of your day, carefully adjust the camera, and give an interview? The right, exaggeratedly cute, design not only got people interested, it made them want to “help” the robot overcome its own design flaws.