Robots are designed to avoid physical contact with humans at all costs. But what if collision became a legitimate mode of interaction?

Robots are conventionally programmed to avoid all physical contact with humans. But what if collision, rather than being an accident, became a mode of interaction in its own right? Starting from a fundamental observation that our bodies learn and communicate through touch, adjustment, and confrontation with the physical environment, interaction designer Anna Schäffner and dancer Michela Filzi have collaborated to reframe how we perceive and engage with existing robotic systems. Their process draws on dance’s influence on robot design, exploring what emerges when movement and machine meet.

This project invites participants to discover a new perspective on human-robot coexistence through embodied exploration guided by contact improvisation. You will be invited to enter into a soft collision with a robot, experiencing firsthand how its material qualities can shape and transform our relationship to it.

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The collaboration by Anna Schäffner and Michela Filzi is supported by the Office for Public Engagement and Knowledge Exchange (Centre for Cultural Techniques, Humboldt-Universität) as part of the Public Engagement Hub Embodied Futures. Knowledge and Movement. (https://www.hu-berlin.de/en/zentrum-kulturtechnik/knowledge-society/knowledge-movement) This event is made possible by the Strategic Partnership Funding of Humboldt-Universität and TORCH, University of Oxford.

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Anna Schaeffner (https://www.matters-of-activity.de/en/members/3609/anna-schaffner) is an interaction designer exploring the field of human-robot interaction through a practice-based PhD at École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« in Berlin. Her research centers on the design of deformable materials. Through her design practice, she investigates tangible interaction as a vehicle for movement programming, dynamic material adaptation, and expressiveness.

Michela Filzi (https://michelafilzi.com/) is a multidisciplinary artist working across dance, performance, and video installation. Holding an MA in Solo Dance Authorship from HZT/Universität der Künste Berlin and a BA in Audio-Visual Arts from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam, she brings a unique convergence of visual arts and movement to her practice. Her research is grounded in object-oriented ontology and vital-materialism, informing a body of work that explores embodied presence, ecological sensitivity, and collective knowledge through site-specific performances and collaborative formats. Based in Berlin and active internationally.

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Photo credit:

Performance by Michela Filzi during the PhD defence "Collision as Interaction. Performing Robotic Design through Artistic and Embodied Practice" by Anna Schaeffner at the Cluster Matters of Activity, Image Space Material, Berlin. Copyright: Leon Laskowski

Description supplied by the event organiser.