UX-Centred Design and Field Evaluation of an Intelligent Waste-Sorting Robot for Cultural Tourism Events

Waner Pei

doi:10.54254/2753-7064/2025.27298

Communications in Humanities ResearchOpen access

UX-Centred Design and Field Evaluation of an Intelligent Waste-Sorting Robot for Cultural Tourism Events

Research Article

Open Access

UX-Centred Design and Field Evaluation of an Intelligent Waste-Sorting Robot for Cultural Tourism Events

Waner Pei ^1*

¹ Royal College of Art

^*Corresponding author: wanerpei@163.com

Published on 24 September 2025

CHR Vol.73

ISSN (Print): 2753-7072

ISSN (Online): 2753-7064

ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-267-6

ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-268-3

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Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) and human–robot interaction (HRI) are moving from controlled labs to complex public environments. Outdoor cultural tourism events (e.g., music festivals) face recurring pain points in waste management: rapid waste generation, slow manual response, and low visitor engagement with sustainability. This paper reports on the UX-centred design and field evaluation of an intelligent waste-sorting robot tailored for temporary outdoor cultural venues. The system integrates computer vision–based recognition, LiDAR navigation, robotic grasping, and real‑time information visualisation with user research, co-design, and iterative prototyping. A mixed‑methods study (surveys, interviews, observations) with organisers, regulators, and visitors informed the interaction model and service blueprint. In a festival pilot, the prototype doubled collection efficiency relative to manual practice, achieved over 90% recognition accuracy, and reduced unattended litter by 27%, while visitors reported higher sustainability awareness. Contributions include: (1) a UX‑centred HRI framework for public cultural spaces; (2) a design pattern catalogue for legible, low‑friction interactions in crowds; and (3) empirical insights into transparency, trust, and acceptance relevant to deployment and policy in smart‑tourism contexts.

Keywords:

human–robot interaction, user experience, smart tourism, waste sorting, information visualisation

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References

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[3]. Stephan, T., Krishna, S. M. H., Lin, C.-C., Sumesh, U., Agarwal, S. and Kim, H. (2025) ProWaste for proactive urban waste management using IoT and machine learning. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 27790. https: //doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08452-x

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References

[5]. Bu, F., Bremers, A., Colley, M. and Ju, W. (2024) Field notes on deploying research robots in public spaces. arXiv Preprint, arXiv: 2404.18375. https: //arxiv.org/abs/2404.18375

Cite this article

Pei,W. (2025). UX-Centred Design and Field Evaluation of an Intelligent Waste-Sorting Robot for Cultural Tourism Events. Communications in Humanities Research,73,45-48.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Art, Design and Social Sciences

ISBN: 978-1-80590-267-6(Print) / 978-1-80590-268-3(Online)

Editor: Yanhua Qin

Conference website: https://2025.icadss.org/

Conference date: 20 October 2025

Series: Communications in Humanities Research

Volume number: Vol.73

ISSN: 2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

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