We are a community of researchers, designers, and students at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Budapest (MOME) exploring new ways of thinking about robotics in art and design education. At MOME, several courses and research projects also include robotics and electronics among all specializations. Within this broader context, our studio focuses dedicatedly on robotics and electronics as tools for creative inquiry and experimentation. Our work is collaborative and interdisciplinary, bridging design, craft, healthcare, performance, and technology. At MOME Robotics, we approach robots not only as technological objects but as creative and critical media. Our focus is on non-humanoid, embodied, and interactive systems that expand how we understand movement, sensitivity, and collaboration between humans and machines.
Through Reflective Robotics, we integrate product design, media design, and electronics with somaesthetic and embodied inquiry, inviting students to experiment with robotics as a space for innovation, speculation, and interactive exploration. Robotics is traditionally framed either by technical progress or by science fiction imagination. For non-engineering students, these perspectives can feel limiting—yet they also open up unique opportunities to reimagine robots as performative, relational, and co-creative agents. Our teaching and research encourage students to engage with this duality, transforming it into a source of creativity and critical reflection. The MOME Robotics Studio was founded in 2022 through the collaboration of Renáta Dezső and Kálmán Tarr. Since then, we have developed new methods for teaching and practicing robotics in design education, presented internationally at the Politics of the Machines (POM) Conference 2025, and expanded through collaborative workshops and student-led projects. The studio continues to grow organically, and it is a pleasure to see an increasing number of projects and collaborations across MOME connecting to robotics and interactive systems.
KEY AREAS
THE TEAM
MOME Robotics is built on collaboration. Our strength lies in connecting the dots between design, craft, technology, and performance. Here you can meet the researchers, designers, and students who bring these perspectives together to shape our projects and teaching.”
dr RENATA DEZSO
Lead ResearcherRenáta Dezső is a design researcher and educator at MOME. Grounded in Research through Design and Craft, her work explores the intersections of disability, embodiment, and human–robot interaction, investigating how materials, technologies, and bodies co-shape new forms of knowledge. Her research and teaching advance critical and inclusive design, recognized by the European Disability Forum (EDF) and ORACLE Awards, the Gillo Dorfles Prize, and the Don Norman Design Award in Education.
KALMAN TARR DLA
ResearcherKálmán Tarr is a media artist and designer whose work spans interactive installations, electronics, and digital fabrication. At MOME Robotics, he co-develops teaching and research, combining media design with hands-on prototyping. He also developed an assistive puppetry project for children with multiple disabilities, exploring how technology and performance can enhance communication and embodied interaction.
Nóra Barna
StudentNóra Barna is a choreographer and media artist. She works at the intersection of movement, media technology, and sensory design. Her practice is rooted in techno-intimacy, shared perception, and threshold states—creating spatial and choreographic situations. Focused on sharing visceral experiences across mediums, she creates artworks that combine somatic practices with media technologies, aiming to develop emotionally and physically sustainable experiences.
Marton Hunyadi
MOME AlumniMarton Hunyadi is an industrial and product designer with a background in cultural anthropology. His special interests within the MOME Robotic Studio include Human-Robot Interaction, Somaesthetics, and Soma Design process.
Eszter Angéla Kocsis
Phd CandidateEszter Angéla Kocsis is a puppet maker and designer. She holds degrees in Philosophy and Mechatronics Engineering. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the Doctoral School of MOME. Her research focuses on the relationship between robotics and puppetry art, particularly how robotic puppets enrich theatrical creative processes and how the robotics industry can benefit from the traditions of puppetry art.
Balint Ligeti
StudentBálint Ligeti is a multi-disciplinary media designer who passionately merges his technical background in software development with his creative foundation in photography. He is a hands-on creator who thrives in collaborative environments, actively experimenting with emerging technologies like 3D and AI to bring concepts to life.