JoyTilt: Between Autonomy and Control of a Robot Vacuum Cleaner Jura Miniotaite Vaida Pakulyte Ylva Fernaeus Department of Media Technology Electrolux Department of Media Technology and Interaction Design Stockholm, Sweden and Interaction Design KTH Royal Institute of vaida.pakulyte@electrolux.com KTH Royal Institute of Technology Technology Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm, Sweden jura@kth.se fernaeus@kth.se ABSTRACT also well known that smartphones include a rich set of motion sensors, light sensors and sound detection, along with auditory Domestic IoT appliances like smart speakers, smart locks and and haptic feedback, which could provide very different robot vacuum cleaners are usually connected, monitored and experiences. Although smartphones contain these sensors and controlled via smartphone apps. Despite the rich number of more, they are rarely used to communicate with smart sensors and actuators available in smartphones, these apps appliances in your home. Development of apps is also still bound primarily provide graphical user interfaces with these appliances. to the desktop paradigm in its focus on the visual and clickable To explore a more somatically engaging experience the prototype interaction and user flow as they are typically shaped in desktop JoyTilt was designed. It is a tilt-based remote control for robotic settings. vacuum cleaners that was developed and tested with users. JoyTilt The bodily experience of mobile apps are largely disregarded enabled participants to have their gaze focused on the robotic in app development today, in particular when it comes to apps vacuum cleaner while controlling it. Interviews with the used to control and interact with autonomous or semi­ participants provide suggestions for balancing control of robot autonomous devices in IoT settings. To explore this topic an vacuum cleaners while keeping the robot's autonomy. In this study exploratory design of playful interactions with the robot vacuum the somaesthetics, the interactive materials and choice of cleaner Pure i9 from Electrolux was conducted. The explorations interaction model come together in the design to shape the resulted in the prototype JoyTilt that enables users to control the human-robot relationship. Lastly, the study highlights the values of robot vacuum cleaner by tilting a phone. The study was further considering the bodily experience when designing apps. conducted at Electrolux in the Consumer Experience Software Team for air purifiers and robot vacuum cleaners. CCS CONCEPTS This study aimed at creating a connected physical experience • Human-centered computing~Human computer interaction rather than the normal smartphone application standard of (HCI)~Interaction techniques~Gestural input visual experience. We propose an aesthetic quality in designing that type of experience, focusing on a connected experience with KEYWORDS a physical appliance being just that - physical. This study Domestic robots; Embodied Design; Gestures; Human-IoT highlights how JoyTilt enabled users to keep their gaze on the experiences. robot while controlling it. The study also found that JoyTilt provides a way of temporarily taking control over the autonomous robot when it misses some dirt or needs help 1 INTRODUCTION getting past an obstacle. The design was engaging, created a An increasingly common way of interacting with the world somatically connected experience and opened a space for further around us is through applications on smartphones [1]. Being ideation. mostly associated with their tiny graphical interfaces [3], it is 2 BACKGROUND Copyright 2021 for this paper by its authors. Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Robot vacuum cleaners are tools for vacuuming our floors, but also a social part of the households they are in. By naming the vacuums, talking to them and videotaping our pets riding on them we are welcoming them to take part in the more playful and social activities in the home. The robot is perhaps acquired for cleaning your home, but also blends into the varying social REFERENCES