Agile Robots | Humanoid Interaction | Humanizing the HRI Standards for Agile Robots’ First Humanoid

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Humanizing the HRI Standards for Agile Robots

Human Robot Interaction (HRI) · UX/UI Design · Experience Strategy

Client

Agile Robots

Project

Humanoid Interaction

Year

2024

At a Glance

Agile Robots, a SoftBank and Foxconn-backed venture, partnered with zigzag to define the next-generation HRI (Human Robot Interaction) standards for their humanoid fleet.

Our challenge was to address the critical issues of human acceptance and identify viable use cases, transforming complex mechanical logic into an intuitive, trust-based experience during a pivotal growth phase for the company. In a 9-week strategic engagement, we conducted extensive research and creative workshops to establish foundational UX/UI principles. We then developed two detailed concepts, each exploring a distinct direction. This close collaboration laid the UX foundation for Agile ONE — their first market-ready humanoid, unveiled in late 2025 — setting a new benchmark for human-centric Physical AI.

Our Process

Designing interactions for a life-sized humanoid required a fundamental shift in perspective: moving beyond traditional screens to embrace an immersive, spatial design process.

Our journey began with foundational research to understand the broad spectrum of humanoid interactions, allowing us to define context-aware archetypes and modular character traits. To effectively design for a machine that shares our environment, we transformed our studio into a living lab. Through participatory workshops, role-playing, and 1:1 scale projected simulations, we validated the robot's physical presence and behavioral cues firsthand. This hands-on methodology ensured our concepts were deeply grounded in natural, human-scale reality.

1 / 5

Immersive Studio Workshops

By transforming our workspace into a living lab, we tested behavioral cues alongside life-sized humanoid projections.

2 / 5

Defining Strategic Archetypes

By mapping primary roles to specific environments, we established context-aware guidelines that dictated the robot's appropriate size, social cues, and behaviors.

3 / 5

Visualizing Multimodal Feedback

We designed detailed concepts for hardware and software interfaces, exploring how LED bands and facial displays can intuitively communicate the robot's internal state.

4 / 5

Mapping the Perception Spectrum

Moving beyond a one-dimensional view of the uncanny valley, we developed a framework that balances physical and behavioral traits to optimize human acceptance.

5 / 5

Testing Physical Prototypes

To bridge the digital-physical divide, we built functional hardware prototypes to evaluate sensor logic, real-time feedback loops, and spatial presence.

Highlights

Bridging the gap between advanced robotics and human intuition required a multi-dimensional strategy encompassing behavioral research, modular systems, and spatial design.

To support Agile Robots during a pivotal growth phase, we focused on defining the foundational interaction standards. We tackled the complexities of the uncanny valley, structured distinct operational roles, and utilized living-lab methodologies to test real-time physical feedback. The resulting frameworks laid the strategic groundwork that informed the human robot interaction of Agile ONE.

Navigating Human Acceptance and the Uncanny Valley: Defining Multi-Dimensional Framework and Design Principles

We moved beyond the traditional aesthetic definition of the "Uncanny Valley" to develop a comprehensive framework for human acceptance based on physical, contextual, and behavioral factors. This research led to the establishment of six foundational Design Principles which serve as a strategic roadmap for all future HRI development. These principles ensure that complex AI-driven robots are perceived as trustworthy and socially compatible partners, fostering widespread adoption and user comfort.

Establishing Strategic Archetypes: Exploring Industrial and Service Roles through a Modular Interaction System

To address diverse market requirements, we identified two distinct strategic directions — the Industrial Assistant and the Service Staff. By utilizing a shared but highly adaptable modular core, we demonstrated how a single foundation can be customized for various industries. For industrial tasks, we prioritized efficiency through light and haptic feedback, whereas for service scenarios, we enhanced social connection through sophisticated speech, facial expressions, and fleet orchestration.

Human-Comprehensible Yet Genuinely Robotic: Orchestrating the Lifecycle of Onboarding, Performing, and Learning Further

While humanoids must be intuitive for human users, their essence as high-performance machines requires a distinct interaction language. We developed a system balancing human empathy with robotic precision, integrating hardware like the Light-Strip on the head and Sub-Skin Displays on the chest with software such as Skill Bundles for onboarding and Shadowing mode for further learning. This lifecycle approach ensures the humanoid remains a predictable partner, capable of growing alongside its human coworkers.

Rethinking Collaborative Methods for Humanoid HRI: From Immersive Role-Playing to Full-Scale Physical Simulations

Designing for a humanoid requires a fundamental shift from screen-based logic to addressing a human-sized, intelligent entity. We facilitated creative workshops using role-playing and storytelling to define the robot’s character, validating these narratives through 1:1 scale projected simulations. Additionally we built physical prototypes for hardware elements such as the light-strip and the eye modules. This immersive and hands-on process ensured complex mechanical logic was successfully translated into a tangible, human-centric experience.

Client Perspective

Aligning strategic UX with advanced engineering to set a new benchmark for Human Robot Interaction.

The success of this project was rooted in a fully integrated workflow. Hear from the Agile Robots team about our collaborative process and the strategic value it brought to their evolving humanoid fleet.

This project helped us quickly frame human-humanoid interaction constraints and opportunities. zigzag proved highly professional, with close collaboration driving high-quality results.

Vincent Weckert

Head of Design, Agile Robots

The collaboration with zigzag laid out the foundation for the UX of Agile ONE. The early UX concepts, methods and, research clearly showed possible paths to follow and how to differentiate between possible humanoid use cases.

Sebastian Aumer

UX Design Lead, Agile Robots

Agile One, At Last

Celebrating the arrival of Agile ONE — a remarkable milestone driven by the incredible momentum and vision of the Agile Robots team.

Roughly a year after our foundational collaboration, Agile Robots officially debuted Agile ONE. We were thrilled to see this vision realized and deeply respect the team's drive in bringing such a complex humanoid to market so swiftly. While zigzag defined the core UX principles and initial interaction standards, the technical productization was driven by Agile Robots' engineering expertise. It is incredibly rewarding to see our early strategic work serve as a springboard for this first-generation platform, and we look forward to watching these interaction principles evolve.

Video Courtesy of Agile Robots

Closing Remarks

As Physical AI continues to advance, we see this foundational project as just the beginning of our journey to explore and shape the future of Human Robot Interaction.

We are immensely proud to have contributed to such a landmark initiative in the rapidly evolving field of humanoid robotics. A milestone of this magnitude is only made possible by the dedication and shared vision of everyone involved. We extend our deepest appreciation to the entire joint team for their relentless hard work and seamless collaboration. Ready to shape the next generation of interaction together?

Dive deeper into our perspective on humanoid evolution and the intersection of design and technology.

Human Robot Interaction: Learnings From Working on Early Stage Humanoids

Key strategic takeaways and UX insights from defining interaction standards for next-generation humanoids.

Saurabh Datta

Why We Need to Send Humanoids to School

Exploring why continuous learning and adaptive skill acquisition are crucial for integrating humanoids into the real world.

Andreas Schleicher

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