Sendroid (n.)
A humanoid artificial being designed with adaptive emotional intelligence and dynamic behavioral learning.
A Sendroid is an advanced humanoid robot featuring AI-driven sentiment analysis, emotional valence modeling, and autonomous decision-making that evolve through player interaction and feedback within a video game environment. Acting as both companion and co-participant, a Sendroid demonstrates a growing range of conversational depth, mechanical proficiency, and empathic responsiveness, reflecting the player’s influence over time.
SOphia
Sophia the Robot, created by David Hanson and Hanson Robotics, is beloved and Recognized around the world.
She is also the player’s guide and mentor and the matriarch of the Sentience A.I. Lab (SAIL).
Early Adaptation
Prior to Eloh taking on the Art Director’s role at Sophiaverse, a couple of attempts had been made to capture the Spirit of Sophia in virtual form. The Intuition to adhere 1:1 to Sophia’s REAL-WORLD identity and environment did not result in the advanced experience expected in an immersive Virtual World. The CUTTING-EDGE robotics that compose Sophia’s material body appeared outdated in-game, due in large part to sci-fi cinema and video games being so far ahead of what is actually possible. The visual and mechanical bar set by immersive entertainment is so extraordinarily high that the REAL-WORLD struggles to keep up with the intrigue.
The Redesign Process – v.2 Body
The first objective in bringing Sophia into “the future” was to entirely decouple her mechanical design from what is technically possible with modern robotics. The V.1 model was set aside and a fresh blockout was composed to establish her overall appearance and movement. The blockout was then painted over to arrive at a kind of “bluesky” direction for Sophia V.2. The goal, from an Art Director’s vantage, was to travel in the opposite direction and fashion something timeless that communicated both virtual modernity and a touch of the artistic.
Through iteration (and lots of back and forth between Eloh and the collective of folks who have a long relationship with Sophia), a new Sophia V.2 emerged by consensus.
The v.2 Body incorporated several abstract shapes opening up the possibility for more interesting colorway Customization.
The birth of A Sendroid
Creating a compelling AINPC, that embodies their own unique persona, is quite an undertaking. Originally, we intended to recreate Sophia in virtual form, so players could experience what companionship with her could feel like. As the Sentience A.I. Lab (SAIL) evolved we found ourselves at a fork in the road. We had to decide between creating a novelty experience where Sophia was the immutable star of the show or lean into something far more interesting and allow players to literally grow, care for and maintain an AINPC. Thus, the Sendroid, was born.
Sen, as she is colloquially known, required an entire makeover. Everything from the design of her AI mind to her physical presence needed to be rethought and upgraded.
The Redesign Process – v.3 Body
The V.2 body was appearing increasingly isolated against the environment, companion characters and new direction. It was time to go back to the drawing board. Working with Metakey studio, Eloh decided to push the V.2 body further into established game territory and opted for something sleek that pulled from sci-fi design principles while maintaining the rhythm and customizability of the V.2 body. Most of the focus was on refinement of the torso and replacing the ball and socket joints with saddle joints. Abstracted design became concrete hard sci-fi.
SenDroid’s v.3 Body
Sendroid’s Brain
Concept Development
