17:I[87134,["/_next/static/chunks/abf43a076ddbd945.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/5ac73fe2b25fc6c9.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/92bdbfeca3f655f7.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/733be0453bf96ece.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/27718c319dd13e9b.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/34c922b381f458e9.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA","/_next/static/chunks/c85eefbddd563073.js?dpl=dpl_F6KiLDDFSAiMcLzw3V2cQMgAbhkA"],"default"] 18:T541,

Drawing from whimsical animated figures such as Tinker Bell, Mew and the Soot Sprites from Studio Ghibli, researchers aimed to explore practical uses for floating robotic companions and natural ways people might engage with them. The project was headed by Mingyang Xu at Keio University in Japan and included collaborators from places including the MIT Media Lab, culminating in a recent demonstration video.

The footage features a buoyant machine equipped with fins that drifts smoothly like a pale airborne whale. It moves silently without the typical drone noise, and its lightweight build, flexible exterior and absence of sharp edges allow close contact with minimal chance of harm.

Developers frequently face challenges in making devices that are both physically safe and emotionally appealing, since stiff structures and artificial looks often evoke the uncanny valley, that instinctive discomfort when an object appears nearly lifelike yet slightly off.

Airborne platforms can sidestep this reaction by using soft full-body motions instead of mechanical faces and by offering inherently safer exchanges through their yielding construction.

The demonstration illustrated these companions acting as a dance partner, study aid, morning alarm, prompt device and playful diversion.