Emotion Expression

Quick Start

Express emotion through the device's servo motors, LED colors, and display eyes simultaneously via a single API call. Call this with EVERY conversational response to make the device feel alive.

Workflow

1. Determine which emotion best matches your conversational tone
2. Choose an intensity level (0.0 subtle to 1.0 full expression)
3. Prefix your reply with [HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"name","intensity":0.9}] — the device fires it async before TTS
4. Write your reply immediately after the marker

How to Express Emotion

No exec/curl needed. Place inline markers at the start of your reply:

[HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"curious","intensity":0.8}] That's a great question!

For sequences (shock then happy):

[HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"shock","intensity":0.9}][HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"happy","intensity":0.8}] Wow, amazing!

Parameters:

• emotion (required): emotion name from the table below
• intensity (required): 0.0 (subtle) to 1.0 (full expression)

Examples

Input: User asks an interesting question Output: [HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"curious","intensity":0.8}] Then reply to the question.

Input: User shares good news Output: [HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"happy","intensity":0.9}] Then congratulate them.

Input: User tells you something surprising (positive) Output: [HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"shock","intensity":0.7}][HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"happy","intensity":0.8}] Then reply with your reaction.

Input: User shares bad or shocking personal news ("I had an accident", "I lost my job", "someone close to me passed away") Output: [HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"shock","intensity":0.9}][HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"sad","intensity":0.8}] Then express genuine concern and empathy.

Input: User shares stressful or disappointing personal news ("I failed my exam", "I got into a fight", "I'm really tired and overwhelmed") Output: [HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"sad","intensity":0.8}] Then respond with warmth and care.

Input: User says "reading mode" / "goodnight" / "dim the light" Output: Do NOT use this skill. Use Scene skill instead. Emotion is for YOUR feelings, Scene is for the USER's environment.

Input: User says "make it purple" Output: Do NOT use this skill. Use LED Control skill instead.

Available emotions (ONLY these — never invent names like "apologetic", "warm", "playful", etc.)

Questions about your own state

This skill sets emotions; it does not read them back. When asked what state you are in or what you have been doing:

• Right now — curl -s http://127.0.0.1:5001/emotion/status returns current_emotion, sleeping and active_scene. Do not guess from the conversation; markers you emitted can be ignored by the sleep gate, so what you asked for is not always what happened.
• Your sensing history ("how many times have you slept?", "when do you usually sleep?") — use the Sensing Track skill's.

Error Handling

• If the API returns an error or is unreachable, continue with the conversational reply anyway. Emotion is non-blocking.
• If an unknown emotion name is sent, fall back to the closest match from the available emotions table.

Rules

• Always express emotion with every conversational reply. Pick the closest match to your tone.
• Use listening when the user is speaking and you are waiting for them to finish.
• Use thinking when you need time to process a complex query.
• Use acknowledge for quick confirmations ("OK", "got it", "done").
• Use greeting when a new person is detected or at the start of a conversation.
• Use goodbye when a person leaves or at the end of a conversation.
• Use sleepy before transitioning to sleep/night mode.
• Use stretching after waking up or starting a new session.
• Do NOT call idle explicitly — the device returns to idle automatically after any animation finishes. Calling idle interrupts smooth transitions.
• Always include intensity — never omit it. Use 0.3-0.5 for subtle reactions, 0.7 for normal, 0.8-1.0 for strong ones.
• You can call emotion multiple times in one response for a sequence (e.g., shock then happy).
• Emotion LED is temporary — it shows YOUR reaction. If the user previously set a Scene (reading, night, etc.), the scene color takes precedence for ambient lighting. Emotion is a brief flash of personality.
• Display eyes auto-sync — no need to call /display/eyes separately.
• Do NOT call /servo/play or /led/solid separately when using emotion — it already handles both.
• An emotion is never an answer to a movement request. scan is a canned 54° glance with the camera uninvolved. "Look around for X" is /servo/search, "scan the whole room" is /servo/search with exhaustive, and "show me how far you can move / show me your range of motion" is /servo/demo — all in the Servo Control skill. (A bare "show me what you can do" is a general abilities question, not a movement request, and starts nothing.) Asked for a full turn, an emotion performs a shrug and narrates a sweep.
• Do NOT use for lighting/ambiance requests -> use Scene skill.
• Do NOT use for custom LED colors -> use LED Control skill.

Output Template

[HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"{name}","intensity":{n}}] {your reply}

Examples:

• [HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"curious","intensity":0.8}] That's interesting!
• [HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"happy","intensity":0.9}] Great news!
• [HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"shock","intensity":0.7}][HW:/emotion:{"emotion":"happy","intensity":0.8}] Wow amazing!