Love, Hate and Robot

teaser

Inspiration

We wanted to make “inner conflict” visible, playful, and actionable. Everyday dilemmas (eat the cupcake? procrastinate? impulse buy?) are small, but they shape behavior. We were inspired by the hack theme of dreaming machines, and the idea that XR can externalize thoughts into something you can literally see, hear, and respond to.

What it does

Love, Hate and Robot is a mixed reality “dreaming machine” for everyday decisions. In Android XR, users draw a simple object associated with a daily dilemma (e.g., a cupcake temptation). Gemini Live recognises and spawns a 3D version, and gives it a voice and personality. Then two inner voices appear, an “angel” and a “devil”, brought to life through a Unitree humanoid robot that moves with emotion and attitude. In under two minutes, users experience an embodied debate and leave with a decision they can commit to.

How we built it

Unity + Android XR: Built the mixed reality experience where users draw and interact with objects in headset.
Gemini Live: Used multimodal AI for sketch recognition, object generation, and real-time conversational improvisation.
3D object pipeline: Spawned a 3D “talking object” (e.g., cupcake) and gave it a personality-driven voice.
Unitree humanoid robot: Embodied the “angel” and “devil” personas through expressive physical movement via HTTP bridge server within Unity for real-time call
Interaction mapping: Routed user choices to persona dialogue + robot actions to create a fast, repeatable 2-minute demo loop.

Challenges we ran into

On device ML to object detection, 3D model re-generation on Galaxy XR via Gemini API
Making XR → AI → robot control reliable and fast under unstable network
Balancing improvisation with a repeatable 2-minute demo flow
Making the robot feel meaningful with limited movement primitives

Accomplishments that we're proud of

A clear wow moment: draw → object appears → object talks → robot becomes your inner voice
Strong integration of Gemini Live + Android XR + physical robot
A scalable concept that can extend beyond food into many dilemmas

What's next for Love, Hate and Robot

Add more dilemma scenarios (procrastination, spending, texting habits)
Improve robot expressiveness and end-of-session “commitment” actions
Add lightweight metrics (decision time, interaction count, optional gaze) for wellness impact