A robot at Puntocittà in Lugano to study interaction with citizens

/ Research

A pilot project dedicated to interaction between robots and citizens, experimenting with the integration of autonomous technologies into public life in a real urban context.

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The City of Lugano, in collaboration with the Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence (IDSIA USI-SUPSI), launched a pilot project dedicated to the interaction between robots and citizens, experimenting with the integration of autonomous technologies into public life in a real urban context. In July 2025, an autonomous robot was present at the Puntocittà in central Lugano (City Service Point/local administrative office), with the aim of studying the behaviour and social dynamics that emerge from the encounter between citizens, artificial intelligence and robotics. The project was developed by IDSIA researchers and supervised by Lugano Living Lab, the city's urban laboratory dedicated to innovation.
A concrete and engaging study The robot moved freely around the Puntocittà spaces and, thanks to an AI module for environmental perception, was able to recognise people potentially interested in interaction. The robot approached them with a small gesture – such as offering a flyer – to encourage spontaneous contact. Specifically, the project aims to: study the interaction between citizens and robots in a real environment, without direct human mediation; evaluate the behaviour of the artificial intelligence algorithms developed by IDSIA in the field, collecting data in a strictly anonymous form for scientific purposes.

Article (in italian) Klaus ti guarda e capisce come interagire: leggi l'articolo di approfondimento a cura di RSI