OPTI -Mascot Robot
SMALL IN SIZE, BIG IN CHARM
Awards:
Good Design Award 2021
Client:
Termnius Technologies
Year:
2020
Design:
United Design Lab
Studio Aslak Siimes
Keywords:
Design strategy
Industrial Design
Design for manufacturing
UX/UI, APP Design
For Expo 2020 Dubai, Opti was created not as a spectacle, but as a presence. Small in stature yet rich in expression, it was designed to reshape how people interact with public space. Not through scale or dominance, but through warmth, empathy, joy and surprise. Opti gave the much needed companionship through interaction in time when Covid caused us to keep distance. The compact robot housed state of the art technology in its compact designed shell.
Rather than standing apart, Opti moved among the crowd. It greeted guests with a soft voice, curious gestures and a sense of delight. Each encounter was simple yet disarmingly human. A wave. A twirl. A glance that lingered just long enough to feel personal.
In a place where the sun is unforgiving and traditional mascot costumes struggle, Opti offered a thoughtful alternative. Standing at the height of a child, it met people on their own terms and communicated not through language alone, but through movement, rhythm, and presence.
As the days unfolded, Opti became more than a character. It became a companion. It danced in parades, posed for photographs and waited patiently for conversations to begin. It made space for joy and moments of pause within the noise.
Long after the Expo came to a close, what remained was not simply the memory of a robot. It was the feeling that something gentle and unexpectedly clever had passed through. A glimpse of technology made humane. A reminder that even the smallest things, when designed with care, can leave the biggest impressions.
