Watching “The Jetsons” as a kid, I thought that the idea of having helper robots around the house seemed plausible, but the specifics of how this would happen never seemed to make sense. Other than the way she talked, it was hard to see how Rosie the Robot was different from the other characters. But smart interactive robots do not need to look like our mechanical humanoid cousins. Interactive architecture—a burgeoning collaboration across diverse scientific and design communities—has ushered in advancements in manufacturing, behavioral logic, and biologically inspired materials and introduced new ways robotics can enhance our lives. Our spaces and environments—buildings themselves—are becoming the robots, Rosie is becoming the architecture around us, and unprecedented levels of responsiveness and environmental interactivity are becoming a reality.
