Ritual Robot
A joint research project between Universität Siegen and Waseda University, Tokyo, exploring robots for religious practice. The Islamic robot, third in the collection, is designed for immigrants and refugees: helping them integrate into new societies while preserving religious and cultural identity.
- Partners
- Universität Siegen × Waseda University
- What we did
- 3D model and interaction design of the robot
- Methods
- Qualitative data collection with immigrants and refugees
- Tech
- Fusion 360 · 3D printing · touch sensors · geared rotating base
- Outcome
- A buildable artifact in the Siegen × Waseda research collection
Identity is the hardest thing to pack
For people who have recently moved to non-Muslim countries, many as refugees, daily practice loses its infrastructure: the call to prayer, the qibla direction, the communal rhythm. The research asked whether a domestic robot could help preserve identity while its owners build a life somewhere new. The design followed the data, not assumptions about it.
Reverence built into the mechanism
- An integrated screen carries content without turning the object into a gadget.
- Touch sensors hidden beneath the model of the holy book: interaction begins with the same gesture as practice.
- A rotating mechanism orients the robot toward Mecca, so users always know the direction of prayer.
The robot doesn't perform the ritual, it points the way and steps back. That humility is the interaction design.
design stance
Research across two continents
The third robot in the collection contributes a designed, buildable artifact to an open question: how technology can serve cultural continuity rather than erode it. It's where fabrication practice and academic practice meet most directly.
