GEISTHuman-Centered Information Systems · TU Clausthal

Research topic

Soft floating robots

Lighter-than-air and soft robots designed for close-proximity physical interaction.

Research · 2

Projects

  • Cuddle-Fish, a helium-filled soft robot with flapping wings (paper figure)

    ActiveKeio · GEIST

    Cuddle Fish

    A soft floating robot with flapping wings that people can safely touch, pat and hug (AHs '25).

    Xu et al., Cuddle-Fish, AHs '25 (ACM)

  • Floating Companion paper teaser: soft floating robots in indoor spaces

    ActiveKeio · TU Clausthal

    Floating Companion

    A design space for soft, helium-filled floating robots in indoor environments; Best Paper Award at DIS 2026.

    Xu et al., Floating Companion, DIS '26 (ACM)

Publications · 4

Publications

  1. Floating Companion: Exploring Design Space for Soft Floating Robots in Indoor Environments

    Mingyang Xu, Yanheng Li, Burcu Nimet Dumlu, RAY LC, Giulia Barbareschi, Matthias Hoppe, Jie Li, Kouta Minamizawa, Kai Kunze

    DIS 2026conferenceBest Paper Award, ACM DIS 2026

  2. Cuddle-fish: Exploring a soft floating robot with flapping wings for physical interactions

    Mingyang Xu, Jiayi Shao, Yulan Ju, Ximing Shen, Qingyuan Gao, Weijen Chen, Qing Zhang, Yun Suen Pai, Giulia Barbareschi, Matthias Hoppe, Kouta Minamizawa, Kai Kunze

    AHs 2025conference

  3. Spread Your Wings: Demonstrating a Soft Floating Robotic Avatar with Flapping Wings for Novel Physical Interactions

    Mingyang Xu, Yulan Ju, Qing Zhang, Christopher Changmok Kim, Qingyuan Gao, Yun Suen Pai, Giulia Barbareschi, Matthias Hoppe, Kai Kunze, Kouta Minamizawa

    SIGGRAPH E-Tech 2025demo

  4. Affective Wings: Exploring Affectionate Behaviors in Close-Proximity Interactions with Soft Floating Robots

    Mingyang Xu, Yulan Ju, Yunkai Qi, Xiaru Meng, Qing Zhang, Matthias Hoppe, Kouta Minamizawa, Giulia Barbareschi, Kai Kunze

    SIGGRAPH Posters 2024poster

Theses · 1

Open thesis topics

Group · 3

People

News · 1

News

  • Annotated figure of a helium-filled soft floating robot that a person reaches for, and its wingspan against a doorframe

    Event · Singapore

    Best Paper Award and Honorable Mention at ACM DIS 2026

    At the ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2026 in Singapore the chair received a Best Paper Award for Floating Companion and an Honorable Mention for a paper on collective digital art.