Nat Roberton

Nat joined the CFPR as a Visiting Fellow in 2020. He is an interaction designer and urban designer with a background in city planning and architecture.

Nat is currently working on a project, in partnership with the CFPR, to develop tactile interfaces that could be used for navigating complex environments such as large city spaces and cultural institutions.

This project is one of several that he is responsible for as programme manager of Bristol City Council’s Bristol Legible City Project, a unique and innovative initiative to improve people’s understanding and experience of the city through the implementation of identity, information and transportation projects.

With a background in city design Nat is particularly interested in how communication technologies, sensing, and physical interfaces can be used to deepen a person’s understanding of city processes and their impact on human activity. Work in this area includes integration of sensors into street furniture to enable city dwellers to select the best route to suit their needs, and the development of user-centred, user-created digital mapping that allows mapping to be tailored to user’s access needs and desires.

Currently Nat is working on practical research into the fabrication of wearable, tactile communication devices for communicating emotional reactions to public spaces between users.

Research interests

Affective computing, soft robotics, tangible media design, tactile interfaces, user-centred design.