Concept:
For my final project, I want to build an interactive creature using Arduino that behaves like a small artificial companion. The project explores the idea that even simple machines can appear to have emotions when they respond to people in consistent and expressive ways.
The creature will react to touch, light, and environmental changes, and its “personality” will shift based on how a person interacts with it. Rather than functioning like a tool, I want it to feel like something users communicate with.
The project asks how simple interaction can make people feel connected to a non-human system.
Design and Description of What My Arduino Program Will Do
The project will use Arduino sensors as inputs and physical outputs to create behaviors.
Inputs (what the creature senses)
- Button sensor acts as touch or poking the creature
- Photoresistor senses light levels around it
- Potentiometer controls the environment or “mood level”
Outputs (how the creature responds)
- LEDs act as expressive eyes
- Piezo buzzer makes emotional sound responses
- Servo motor moves part of the creature, like a head, ears, or wings
Creature Behaviors
The creature will have several emotional states:
Sleepy State: dim LED eyes, slow movement, quiet tones
Happy State: brighter LEDs, playful movements, cheerful sounds
Annoyed State: triggered if poked too much, rapid movement, warning sounds
Curious State: reacts when light changes, looks around using servo movement
The project creates an ongoing cycle:
the user acts → the creature senses → it responds → the user reacts again.
That back-and-forth exchange is the core interaction.
Start Working on the Project (Documenting Progress)
Since my physical arduino hasn’t arrived yet, I only did a little trial on tinkercard. And actually I am still not fully clear about the project yet
Most Challenging or Unknown Part
The most challenging part will be making the creature feel like it has personality rather than behaving like disconnected sensor outputs.
The challenge is designing: emotional state changes, transitions between behaviors, making reactions feel expressive and believable
I want it to feel less like “press button = response” and more like interacting with a small character.
Focus on Interaction Design
This project responds to the course focus by emphasizing:
Careful sensing: creature reacts to touch and environment
Clear feedback: movement, light, and sound show responses immediately
Ongoing exchange: interaction happens as a conversation, not one single action
Creative concept: the project treats interaction as relationship-building
I want users to feel they are not operating a device, but encountering a small artificial being.
Materials
Using basic parts from my Arduino starter kit:
1.Arduino Uno 2. Button 3.Photoresistor 4.Potentiometer 5.LEDs 6.Piezo buzzer 7.Servo motor 8. Cardboard / craft materials for creature body
How much of this can you implement in the simulator? You can start there before getting the hardware. The writing feels a bit generated. You will be expected to be able to articulate your idea synchronously and a reminder that all use of AI, including in the ideation phase, needs to be disclosed in the “How this was made” section in the project documentation.