About Us

“Robotic Environment Lab” is led by Dr. Yixiao Wang, a faculty member at School of Industrial Design, Georgia Institute of Technology. Robotic Environments are built environments embedded with robotic components. This labs aims to explore and investigate how robotic environments can shape our everyday life, both physically and socially, through its interactivity and adaptivity. One of the research theme in this lab is making robotic environments socially intelligent and interactive. In Dr. Wang’s vision, our homes, offices, classrooms, public spaces, and even natural environments, when embedded with robotics, could become socially intelligent “Space Agents” as if our friends, partners, companions, caregivers, etc. Many of the lab projects explore socially interactive robotic environments that seem to have emotions, personalities, and even a set of social roles that can improve and empower our everyday lives. Thus, the major research activities in this lab are human-centered design, engineering, and evaluation of social robots, architectural robotics, and socially interactive robotic environments.

We design, develop, and evaluate robotic environments and robots with environmental impact

Our works are at the intersection Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) and Architectural Robotics, and are broadly situated within the Interaction Design (IxD) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) communities.

Socially Interactive Robotic Bookshelf to Promote Children’s Reading of Physical Books

Could socially interactive robotic bookshelf proactively engage children in reading physical books when distractions such as iPad games and toys are present? In this project, we present a user study with a low-fidelity robotic bookshelf prototype that shows the persuasive power of socially interactive architectural robotics.

Socially Interactive Virtual Environment (SIVE) as A Design Partner

This is our very first attempt to apply the design concept of socially interactive “Space Agent” on virtual environment. The goal is to test how a virtual environment can be socially interactive, and how it could benefit the human-VR co-design process.

“Space Agent” as a Collaborative Work Environment

This project focuses on reconfigurable work environment that support a variety of design tasks. The continuum robotic wall that reconfigures the work space is designed to be socially interactive and adaptive, leading to social perceptions from the participants that the wall is being polite and helpful.

Socially Interactive Robotic Flower for A More Restorative Interior Environment

This robotic flower is developed as a piece of interior decoration, a social robot adding artistic value to an interior environment. Our study shows that inhabitants perceive more restorativeness from the interior environment embedded with such a socially interactive robotic flower.

Robotic Fishscale Shingles

This project explores how robotic surfaces can be designed and developed for architectural scale applications such as redefining public spaces. The robotic mechanism developed through this project is inspired by open-and-close systems of pine cones in nature.

Welcome to our lab!

Our lab space is located at the “Arch West” building (Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design, 247 4th St NW, Atlanta, GA 30332) Room 150. We have a state-of-the-art desktop with some interesting modular robots and social robots that can be experimented with.
We are always excited about interesting research ideas and interdisciplinary collaborations within and outside of Georgia Tech!
Currently, we do not have Ph.D. position or RA position openings. However, we are always happy to meet with promising candidates who are interested in future opportunities. Please send Dr. Wang your CV and portfolio (or project website) if you are interested in future Ph.D. or RA position openings.

Meet our amazing team.

We’re a talented group of creative individuals interested in robotics, industrial design, architecture, and all niches in between. Get to know us and what we do!

Dr. Yixiao Wang

Assistant Professor & Founder

“A industrial designer, architect, and human behavioral researcher who specialized in human-centered design, engineering, and evaluation of robotic environments. He is especially interested in designing and investigating socially interactive robotic environments. He enjoys playing piano in his spare time”

Radha Soman

Graduate Research Assistant

“I am interested in understanding interdisciplinary user needs in social, environment and day-to-day contexts revolving around digital media including everyday products, apps, websites, and online technologies. I love art, music, photography and crocheting.”

Yangyixiao Xiang

SID Master Student

“Former mechanical engineer. Now an industrial designer who loves gaming and cooking. I’m curious about many things and enjoy learning new skills.”

Seryung Kim

SID Master Student

“A designer, engineer, and crafts-girl from South Korea! Always on the lookout for new challenges, I love learning through hands-on experiences. When I’m not crafting something, you’ll find me curating the perfect playlist or meticulously selecting color palettes for my next outfit of the day.”

Jiaze Yu

SID Master Student

“Hailing from China, I’m an enthusiastic industrial design student with a passion for both art and human-centered design. I love exploring various fields and discovering how they intertwine. Outside of my studies, I enjoy experimenting with different art forms and delving into innovative design concepts that focus on improving user experiences.”

Huaizhuo Yang

SID Master Student

“I’m a Designer with Mechanical Engineering background. My focus is on UX design and research, particularly within automotive applications like HMI design. I’m currently an Interaction Designer working at Porsche NA. My research focus is trust calibration in autonomous vehicles using anthropomorphic agents/social robots.”

Liyi Lin

SID Master Student

“Just a designer being passionate about understanding the person with whom I am communicating. My design journey kicked off back in high school where I got totally hooked on architecture design. It is a pretty long story, but I’d be thrilled to share it with you sometime. When I am not doing design, I always suit up and go nowhere to get a cup of coffee.”

Nicholas A Economou

SID Master Student

“An industrial designer who is interested in interactive robotic environments. My research focuses on socially interactive robotic environments, with a particular focus on their healthcare applications for senior citizens. With a background in Computer Science and Psychology, I aim to integrate robotics with human interactions to enhance user experiences. Outside of my studies, I enjoy rock climbing, swimming, and baking cheesecake.”

Xintao Huang

SID Master Student

“An industrial designer who is interested in the intersection of music technology and interaction design.”