CARA: A Smart Plush Toy for Support during COVID-19

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of my USC Makers peers and I decided to enter the Human Robot Interaction (HRI) Student Design Competition of 2021. The theme of HRI 2021 is “Bolder Human-Robot Interaction.” We decided to attempt to bridge the loneliness felt around the world. We designed a plush toy robot that could be used to connect isolated persons to their loved ones during the pandemic through three different modes: daily podcasts of voice messages, real-time music sharing, and showing someone they are being remembered. Cara is a rechargeable, soft stuffed animal that lights up and talks. Individuals can interact with it by pressing its paw or through a webpage. I worked with my peers remotely and mostly worked on the webpage, writing the paper, and prototyping the plush toy. We didn’t win, but we published our paper, won a Presentation Award, and a 3D printer that we then gifted to our student organization, USC Makers. Yet another experience in interaction design that further impassioned me in affective computing.