Making the Voice of Amazon Astro

Amazon Astro is a home robot that helps people monitor their houses. It acts as a companion and can bring things to different rooms. The design team wanted Astro to have a clear personality. They made the robot eager to help users every day.

Astro does not use a normal human voice to speak. The team decided to use non-verbal sounds and eye animations instead. This choice helped them create a very interesting character. Customers love how the little robot communicates without actual words.

Mike Forst and Chelsea Titus worked hard on this project. Mike is a sound designer who tested many different audio ideas. Chelsea focuses on conversation design and user experience. They wrote stories from Astro's perspective to understand its motivations completely.

Working with limits made the design team much more creative. They learned that less talking creates a better robot character. Customers respond very well to these non-verbal sounds. The team continues to build strong emotional connections with their users.