Robot makers use cute and humanlike designs to win user trust

DoorDash, the largest food delivery service in the U.S., created its autonomous delivery vehicle Dot with a round body and big circular eyes that can make eye contact and alert pedestrians, as the company hopes such features could improve "human acceptance." Its vice president of autonomy, Ashu Rege, told NBC News the goal is for robots to be accepted like pets such as dogs and cats. "I think they absolutely have some kind of character or persona," he said.

This strategy is also seen in Moflin, a fluffy hamster-like AI-powered robot pet developed by Japanese electronics firm Casio Computer Co. The robot evolves over time through conversations, petting, and cuddling, learning its owner’s preferences and displaying more than four million possible personality traits, according to Japan’s Kyodo News.

DoorDash's delivery robot Dot. Photo courtesy of DoorDash

Ellie Sanoubari, a robot designer and postdoctoral researcher focusing on human-robot interaction, said robots were once largely confined to factory environments where users needed technical expertise. As they become mainstream, developers must ensure people feel "comfortable" rather than "threatened" around them. She noted that design choices such as larger heads, big eyes and the ability to make "cute" noises can evoke "deeply seated biological responses in us."

In July 2025, a fleet of autonomous robots drew attention when they commuted on a subway in Shenzhen, China, to deliver goods for 7-Eleven stores. Operated by a logistics subsidiary of property giant Vanke, the robots stand about one meter tall and feature a penguin-like appearance with glossy dome heads and LED faces that display friendly eyes and smiles, according to Interesting Engineering.

Designers are also drawing inspiration from popular animation characters to make robots more relatable. Ongo, an interactive lamp developed by California startup Interaction Labs, was inspired by the iconic animated lamp character from Pixar. The company recruited Oscar-nominated "Toy Story" writer Alec Sokolow to help design the wide-eyed robot, which speaks in a cartoonish voice, moves expressively and can learn about its users over time. It can bounce in excitement or peer over a person’s shoulder. Sokolow, who leads Ongo’s creative design, said the team wanted to create a piece of physical technology that was "somewhere between a pet and a concierge."

Memo robots from U.S.'s robotics firm Sunday Robotics. Photo courtesy of Sunday Robotics

Another example is Memo, an anthropomorphic household robot designed to load dishwashers and fold socks, with a look reminiscent of Baymax from Disney’s "Big Hero 6." Fabian Fernandez-Han, marketing lead at its California-based developer Sunday Robotics, said the company aimed for a humanlike appearance without making it too realistic to prevent the robot from appearing unsettling or eerie to users.

Some firms are instead pursuing highly realistic designs. Chinese company DroidUp last month unveiled Moya, a fully biomimetic embodied intelligent robot standing 1.65 meters tall and weighing about 32 kilograms. It maintains a body temperature between 32 and 36 degrees Celsius, a detail intended to enhance its lifelike presence during interaction.

It can smile, nod, make eye contact and walk with a gait resembling 92% of human movement. It is built around the idea of embodied artificial intelligence, systems that can perceive, reason and act within the physical world rather than operating purely in digital environments.

Moya’s appearance and behaviour have prompted mixed reactions online, particularly among Chinese social media users. Some viewers expressed fascination with its realism, while others described the robot’s movement as unsettling, according to the South China Morning Post.

Moya humanoid robot developed by China's DroidUp. Photo courtesy of DroidUp

Brian Comiskey, senior director of innovation and trends at the Consumer Technology Association, said many developers are trying to balance responsiveness with physical cuteness, adding that it "allows humans, where we’re wired to read body language and faces and movements, to immediately start to attach to them a lot more quickly."

However, experts warn that pet-like robots could also introduce risks. Sanoubari cautioned that emotional dependency seen with chatbots could extend to physical robots. AI-powered toys and robotic companions have already raised concerns about data privacy, weak guardrails and inappropriate conversations for children.

She added that even robots that are not designed to be cute are often "cutesified" by owners. "So humans are cute that way," she said. "Humans develop their own attachment. They kind of assign meaning to things."

Guy Hoffman, a Cornell University professor studying human-robot interaction, told U.S.’s news site Semafor that making robots look more human will not necessarily improve their ability to perform physical tasks. He also argued that adding human features such as eyes can be inappropriate, calling faceless robots like Tesla’s the most "honest" design.

"It should be approachable like an elevator is approachable. You don’t want to feel like you’re going to die going into an elevator," but it does not need to be "cute," he said.