Asimov's First Law states that "a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." Since its proposal, it has been regarded as a core principle guiding robots toward safe coexistence with humans in the real world. As robots increasingly enter human living spaces, embodied safety has become the foundation of trust in human–robot interaction. This concept emphasizes that a robot's physical body must be inherently safe, ensuring through its material and structural properties that it cannot harm humans. Soft robotics provides a tangible approach to realizing this principle. With compliant materials, deformable structures, and adaptive control, soft robots offer the physical foundation for achieving the essence of the First Law.

This workshop will highlight recent advances in soft robotics for wearable technologies, assistive systems, education, and human–robot collaboration, exploring how embodied safety can enable robots to truly integrate into human environments. The main discussion topics will include how to define safety through measurable interaction metrics and physical thresholds, how to verify and validate safety both theoretically and experimentally, and how to balance safety-oriented compliance with maintaining performance and precision. Through cross-disciplinary discussions, this workshop aims to bridge the gap between conceptual ideals and practical implementations, fostering the embodied safety that will help robots become a trusted part of everyday human life.

For decades, the vision of robots as helpful companions in our homes, schools, and hospitals has been a driving force in technological innovation. However, this vision is fundamentally constrained by a single, critical challenge: safety. Traditionally, robots have been rigid, powerful, and fast—traits that make them highly effective in structured industrial settings but inherently dangerous in the chaotic, unpredictable environments of human daily life.

The First Law of Robotics, as proposed in Isaac Asimov's seminal works, holds the highest priority among his Three Laws. It states: "a robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm." This principle has long served as the guiding ethical ideal for robotics. Historically, attempts to uphold this law have focused almost exclusively on software: complex sensors, redundant control systems, and sophisticated algorithms designed to prevent a rigid robot from making a harmful mistake. This paradigm, however, is incomplete. A 100 kg steel robot, even when perfectly controlled, remains a significant hazard by its very presence. A system failure or an unexpected interaction could still lead to catastrophic injury.

This workshop addresses this fundamental gap by focusing on "Embodied Safety," which is the principle that a robot's physical design, not just its programming, must be the first line of defense. Soft robotics represents a paradigm shift in this pursuit. By utilizing compliant materials, deformable structures, and bio-inspired designs, soft robots are inherently safe. Their bodies can absorb impacts, conform to unexpected contact, and interact with humans with a gentleness that rigid robots cannot replicate. This technology provides a physical, tangible pathway to fulfilling the true spirit of Asimov's First Law, expanding the notion of safety from a purely computational concern to an integrated design challenge that encompasses material, structural, and control dimensions.