February 8, 2025

Robots are already starting to transform our homes and workspaces, but one day they may be integrated into every aspect of room design. In the future, these “robot rooms” may create dynamic indoor spaces that change according to the needs of their users.

The challenge: The needs of the spaces where we live, work, and play today are faster than ever. This shift has been accelerated by the pandemic – which for many of us has seen our homes suddenly become offices, social spaces, schools, and playgrounds.

Traditional methods of designing indoor spaces may not be suitable for many people’s lifestyles in the near future.

This trend is only set to continue, especially as remote working continues to gain traction. However, the demands on our content are also coupled with many other aspects of our changing world. As urbanization trends see global populations migrate to cities, many human settlements are shrinking, and becoming more disconnected from nature.

In addition to this, rapidly aging populations across the developed world are increasing the resources of assisted living services.

For some researchers, these many intersecting challenges ultimately suggest that traditional methods of designing indoor spaces may not be suitable for many human lifestyles in the near future. However, through the combined development of AI and robotics, concepts about the rooms where we spend most of our lives are beginning to shift.

The robots are the room: Today, many of our homes are equipped with smart devices that respond to our voice commands, and can sense heat or movement. They turn on the lights, vacuum the floors, and listen to music, without us even touching the devices involved.

What if robots just weren’t on the room, but it is themselves the room?

For Keith Evan Green of the Architectural Robotics Lab at Cornell University, the scope of these technologies can still grow.

Through his research, Green asked the question: what if robots weren’t just on the room, but it is themselves the room? His idea is that intelligent systems can be fully rooted in all aspects of room design: from the layout of the furniture, to the views displayed on the walls and ceiling.

Green and his colleagues have now spent more than 20 years exploring the exciting possibilities of spaces they call “robot rooms.” Their work has inspired many different research projects, each exploring different aspects of newly emerging AI and robotics technologies.

The projects: One branch of Green’s research is the Animated Work Environment project, which explores how furniture and wall panels can move around the room in response to voice commands, body movements, or even intuitive AI algorithms.

This can allow users to optimize their living spaces for specific tasks: for example a room can be a productive office environment during the day, then a space for hosting friends in the evening.

The home+ project investigates how smart robotic furniture such as lamps or side tables can be programmed to climb walls, and place or retrieve objects from floors and shelves. If achieved, this will enable elderly or disabled users to store, access, and organize their belongings more easily – helping them live more independent lives.

In the LIT ROOM project, Green’s team explored how to create immersive environments by programming walls and ceilings to change shape, and display particular sounds and colors. They envision these patterns that change to accompany a user’s voice as they read a story aloud to children, or allow them to explore calm virtual worlds – offering greater depth experience than just looking at a screen.

Inside spaces of the future: Although these projects have seen good progress so far, Green’s team believes they have only just scratched the surface of the robot room’s full potential. By intelligently monitoring a user’s biometric signatures, the systems can detect signs of emergency health issues in elderly or disabled users, as well as hospital patients.

More advanced robotics could one day be used to cultivate indoor gardens, with plants embedded in walls and furniture. It can help users feel closer to nature in dense urban environments, and even grow their own food indoors. In addition to changing interior spaces, Green also thinks that robot rooms can help to optimize the cramped spaces inside self-driving cars and public transportation – improving comfort. to their users.

Smarter methods of designing interior spaces help us adapt to an uncertain and rapidly changing society.

In the future, Green hopes that these same principles can be used to help astronauts on long space station missions or interplanetary voyages, or in interior habitats on the moon or Mars. By helping these explorers make the most of extremely limited spaces, and better maintain their mental well-being, robot rooms may one day be an important aspect of these daring missions.

Finally, by using the rapidly developing power of AI and robotics for good, Green hopes that smarter ways to design indoor spaces will one day improve our daily lives, and help us adapt to an uncertain and rapidly changing society.

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