Creating a real-time, expressive robotics engine for digital creatures that feel alive.
Robotick™ is an independent research and development project exploring how emotion, cognition, and memory might merge to give rise to believable, expressive robots and other digital creatures - ones that not only act, but also feel.
Fusing modern real-time systems engineering with animation, puppetry, and psychology, the work explores whether a digital creature’s inner life - its shifting priorities, moods, and memories - could close the subtle gap we sense in machines that move and speak, yet feel somehow hollow. Like the most memorable characters from animation and puppetry, these robots are not just reactive but performative — using rhythm, timing, and emotional nuance to create a sense of appealing personality.
Designed for social and companion robotics in homes, schools, and care settings - as well as digital avatars in games and other media - Robotick™ seeks to make technology more legible, endearing, and alive: a study in what it means for a digital creature to be expressive, adaptive, and emotionally present.
