KiQ Designs Robot Arm Gestures with ALS Artist Masatane Muto
KiQ, the Shibuya creative studio led by Akane Kikuchi, is designing robot arm gestures for artist Masatane Muto, who has ALS, together with the association WITH ALS.
1 source 1h ago
Reporting from 1 source: ASCII.jp.
Why it matters
The visible deliverable is a stage performance, but the stated goal is a reusable method and data base for gesture design across different bodies, cultures and machines, and KiQ is already recruiting partners for it.
The work is part of the Brain Body Jockey project, and the theme for this round is Optimize: fitting the arm's movement to the user's body. The design adds forward and backward travel to the trajectory because the arm's base is fixed. The performance is November 8, 2026, at Chomorrow 2026 in Takeshiba, Tokyo.
Footage of Muto's past performances is the starting reference for the gesture design, and it only carries the work so far. Where the video cannot settle a question, KiQ drafts the movement and plans to confirm it with Muto in rehearsal. KiQ representative Akane Kikuchi said the job meant imagining what she would want if she were in his position.
KiQ's part is the gesture design: trajectory, speed and the pauses between them. The studio is recruiting robot arm and robot hand developers and research groups for joint work on the design and on how well it reads. The performance runs November 8, 2026, from 17:00 to 17:50 at Tokyo Port City Takeshiba, a stage program with no hands-on booth.
Written with AI by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited. See our editorial policy.
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