Dot to dot : storytelling without words, through gesture and abstraction : What can robotics learn from puppetry's language of gesture? : insights from a theatrical experiment

Dot to Dot., a 45-minute experimental puppet performance premiered in 2023 at the Budapest Puppet Theatre, demonstrates puppeteers conveying emotion and narrative through movement and gesture alone. Using abstract dramaturgy, non-linear scenes, non-realistic puppets, and rolling robot balls as simple social robots, it engages audiences in active meaning- making. Linked to the author's PhD research on puppetry-robotics intersections, particularly nonverbal channels in human–robot interaction (HRI), the study employed drama workshops with children, questionnaires, and an online emotion-recognition experiment. Findings show puppetry's non-verbal system – movement, body language, visual symbolism – as culturally responsive yet universally rooted, offering inspiration for contemporary puppetry and socially adept robots, plus a proposed gesture-based puppetry lexicon for technological interaction.