Amazon Astro
Principal HRI Designer | 2017 – present
Designing and launching Amazon’s first home social robot, Astro.
Key Contributions
01 - Up and Down the Experience Stack
- Lead the development of the foundational on-device Human Robot Interaction (HRI) motion patterns
- Launched end-to-end use cases like Hangouts and Video Calling
- Defined the visual style for Astro’s visual communication
02 - Social Robotics in the LLM Era
- Spearhead the design initiative to integrate Gen AI across all aspects of the Astro experience
- Lead key initiatives to coordinate the Sound, Animation, Conversation, and UX design teams’ approach to utilizing LLMs
03 - Building a Character-first Product
- Designed a Character Design Framework to guide the creation of a consistent character
- Created methodologies to measure relationship with embodied AI
01
Up and Down the Experience Stack
The complexities of translational motion meant a complete rethinking of digital experiences in the 3D domain.
As the on-device HRI lead, I worked closely with Engineering to design and launch core behavioral building blocks. Challenges included: what should Astro do if it loses sight of a person while following them? Or how should Astro safely communicate its intended path of travel using body language?
In addition, I adapted end-to-end use cases, like Alexa’s video calling or brand new ones like item delivery, to Astro’s unique mobility-first platform.
Follow HRI Pattern + Video Calling Use Case
Character Forward Status Indicators
Find + Porter
02
Social Robotics in the LLM era
The emergence of LLMs have completely revolutionized the field of Social Robotics. As the design lead, I ran workshops and hackathons to help familiarize the cross functional design teams with the power of LLMs. In addition, I worked deeply with Product and Engineering to define how Gen AI would affect all facets of a robotic product, including body language, speaking style, and relationship building.
03
Building a Character-first Product
Anything that moves, let alone speaks, invites the projection of life. This requires deep consideration of a created character’s identity along with its traditional features and capabilities.
The Character Design Framework is a formalization of a set of tools and approaches I have gathered over 7 years working in the field of embodied AI.
This framework has been deployed internally to define product strategy and features. In addition, it was exhibited at the internal Amazon design conference Conflux in 2025.
Copyright 2025 • Jonathan Ota
Amazon Astro
Principal HRI Designer | 2017 – present
Designing and launching Amazon’s first home social robot, Astro.
Key Contributions
01 - Up and Down the Experience Stack
- Lead the development of the foundational on-device Human Robot Interaction (HRI) motion patterns
- Launched end-to-end use cases like Hangouts and Video Calling
- Defined the visual style for Astro’s visual communication
02 - Social Robotics in the LLM Era
- Spearhead the design initiative to integrate Gen AI across all aspects of the Astro experience
- Lead key initiatives to coordinate the Sound, Animation, Conversation, and UX design teams’ approach to utilizing LLMs
03 - Building a Character-first Product
- Designed a Character Design Framework to guide the creation of a consistent character
- Created methodologies to measure relationship with embodied AI
01
Up and Down the Experience Stack
The complexities of translational motion meant a complete rethinking of digital experiences in the 3D domain.
As the on-device HRI lead, I worked closely with Engineering to design and launch core behavioral building blocks. Challenges included: what should Astro do if it loses sight of a person while following them? Or how should Astro safely communicate its intended path of travel using body language?
In addition, I adapted end-to-end use cases, like Alexa’s video calling or brand new ones like item delivery, to Astro’s unique mobility-first platform.
Follow HRI Pattern + Video Calling Use Case
Character Forward Status Indicators
Find + Porter
02
Social Robotics in the LLM era
The emergence of LLMs have completely revolutionized the field of Social Robotics. As the design lead, I ran workshops and hackathons to help familiarize the cross functional design teams with the power of LLMs. In addition, I worked deeply with Product and Engineering to define how Gen AI would affect all facets of a robotic product, including body language, speaking style, and relationship building.
03
Building a Character-first Product
Anything that moves, let alone speaks, invites the projection of life. This requires deep consideration of a created character’s identity along with its traditional features and capabilities.
The Character Design Framework is a formalization of a set of tools and approaches I have gathered over 7 years working in the field of embodied AI.
This framework has been deployed internally to define product strategy and features. In addition, it was exhibited at the internal Amazon design conference Conflux in 2025.
Copyright 2025 • Jonathan Ota
Amazon Astro
Principal HRI Designer | 2017 – present
Designing and launching Amazon’s first home social robot, Astro.
Key Contributions
01 - Up and Down the Experience Stack
- Lead the development of the foundational on-device Human Robot Interaction (HRI) motion patterns
- Launched end-to-end use cases like Hangouts and Video Calling
- Defined the visual style for Astro’s visual communication
02 - Social Robotics in the LLM Era
- Spearhead the design initiative to integrate Gen AI across all aspects of the Astro experience
- Lead key initiatives to coordinate the Sound, Animation, Conversation, and UX design teams’ approach to utilizing LLMs
03 - Building a Character-first Product
- Designed a Character Design Framework to guide the creation of a consistent character
- Created methodologies to measure relationship with embodied AI
01
Up and Down the Experience Stack
The complexities of translational motion meant a complete rethinking of digital experiences in the 3D domain.
As the on-device HRI lead, I worked closely with Engineering to design and launch core behavioral building blocks. Challenges included: what should Astro do if it loses sight of a person while following them? Or how should Astro safely communicate its intended path of travel using body language?
In addition, I adapted end-to-end use cases, like Alexa’s video calling to Astro’s unique mobility-first platform and designed brand new features like item delivery.
Follow HRI Pattern + Video Calling Use Case
Character Forward Status Indicators
Find + Porter
02
Social Robotics in the LLM era
The emergence of LLMs have completely revolutionized the field of Social Robotics. As the design lead, I ran workshops and hackathons to help familiarize the cross functional design teams with the power of LLMs. In addition, I worked deeply with Product and Engineering to define how Gen AI would affect all facets of a robotic product, including body language, speaking style, and relationship building.
03
Building a Character-first Product
Anything that moves, let alone speaks, invites the projection of life. This requires deep consideration of a created character’s identity along with its traditional features and capabilities.
The Character Design Framework is a formalization of a set of tools and approaches I have gathered over 7 years working in the field of embodied AI.
This framework has been deployed internally to define product strategy and features. In addition, it was exhibited at the internal Amazon design conference Conflux in 2025.
Copyright 2025 • Jonathan Ota