HRI 2027 Student Design Competition: Robots in Public Spaces

The HRI 2027 Student Design Competition is a design challenge for student teams at the ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, the leading academic conference on how people and robots interact. The 2027 theme is "Robots in Public Spaces": teams design robots or interactive systems for sidewalks, plazas, museums, stations, hospital lobbies and other shared places, then present their work at the conference in Santa Clara, California, in March 2027. Submissions close on 20 November 2026, Anywhere on Earth.

The competition rewards design thinking rather than expensive hardware: a well-argued concept, puppeted prototype or software system can win.

The Theme: Robots in Public Spaces

Public spaces are crowded, noisy and unpredictable. A robot there meets strangers, children, pets, queues, wheelchair users and people who never chose to interact with it. Strong entries are set in a specific, named place, consider bystanders as well as intended users, make design choices that only make sense in public, and deal with at least one real complication such as crowding, noise, accessibility, consent or maintenance. Example scenarios include a museum guide robot balancing a school group and a solo visitor, or a delivery robot sharing a busy pavement with strollers.

What You Can Submit

• Physical robots, new or modified commercial platforms
• Software-only systems, such as conversational agents or interfaces
• Interaction concepts shown through enactment, video prototypes or Wizard-of-Oz methods
• Spatial and service designs for how robots, people and places fit together

Unfinished work is allowed if the paper shows convincingly that it will be complete by the camera-ready deadline.

Who Can Enter the Student Design Competition?

Teams of two to five students, from undergraduate to PhD level, in any discipline; members can be at different institutions, and multidisciplinary teams are encouraged. Faculty advisors may be co-authors, but the project must be student-led. If you have no team, the chairs can help match you with others. It suits:

• Industrial, interaction and service design students
• Robotics, computer science and engineering students
• Architecture, urban design and psychology students interested in technology

Fees

There is no submission fee, and accepted papers are published without an article charge. At least one team member must register for and attend the conference in person; travel funding is not guaranteed.

Awards

• Best Design Award, chosen by the judges
• Public Spaces Award, for the entry that engages most deeply with the theme
• People's Choice Award, voted by conference attendees

Accepted entries are published as demonstration papers in the HRI 2027 companion proceedings, and every reviewed entry receives written feedback.

Submission Requirements

Submit a design-focused extended abstract of up to four pages, including references, in the HRI proceedings format. Papers are not anonymous. A video of up to three minutes is optional but strongly encouraged. The paper must describe the setting, users and bystanders, the interaction, design goals and constraints, the design process and alternatives considered, expected user experience and failure modes, and a demonstration plan, with at least one image of the design.

Tips for Entering

Choose a real place you can observe, and describe how it works day to day. Show the alternatives you rejected and why. Address what could go wrong. Plan a demonstration that lets judges experience the interaction quickly, and bring something physical, even a simple prototype or poster.

Things to Consider

• Teams of 2–5 students.
• In-person attendance required for one member.
• No travel funding guaranteed.
• Deadline: 20 November 2026, AoE.

Enter the Competition

Ready to design for public spaces?

Enter the HRI 2027 Student Design Competition

The full call, format templates and submission link are on the HRI 2027 website.

Looking for more open calls? Browse all competitions and opportunities on Good Stuff Weekly.

Last verified: November 2, 2026