Bridging Disciplines for a New Era in Physical AI

Physical AI is extending models from the digital world into performing tasks in the real world. Robots and autonomous cars are common examples of physical AI agents. In this workshop, we aim to go beyond containing physical AI in those agents and ask what if all objects and materials we interact with were intelligent? We aim to form an understanding of the opportunities and challenges of extending agents to include objects and materials that can adapt to users needs, i.e., change shape, firmness, color, tactile properties, etc. This broad vision, which is challenging to achieve, is related to many active research areas, e.g., programmable matter, modular robotics, soft robotics, smart materials, shape-changing interfaces, or radical atoms, and has homes in many disciplines, incl. mechanical engineering, robotics, material science, computer science. Many new approaches are being developed in the individual disciplines that together might be the start of a new era for what we like to call extended physical AI. In this workshop, we bring perspectives from these different disciplines together to exchange new approaches to longstanding challenges (e.g., actuation, computational design, fabrication, control), exchange tacit knowledge, discuss visions for future applications, map the new grand challenges, and inspire the next generation of physical AI research.