Marie Vihmar

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About

Marie Vihmar is a rising star in embodied intelligence and soft robotics, pioneering how robots can physically adapt to their environments. Her research centers on quantifying embodied intelligence (EI), developing metrics to measure how a robot’s physical form contributes to its cognitive capabilities—a challenge she tackles in her most-cited 2023 paper (6 citations). Vihmar’s work pushes beyond traditional prefabricated robots, exploring bio-inspired approaches like silk-like in situ web spinning (2025, 3 citations) that allow robots to dynamically alter their bodies mid-task. She also champions accessible, hands-on design with wood-based hygromorphic robots that can be mastered in ten minutes (2024, 1 citation), using tangible coding to foster ideation through craft. This “thinking with hands” philosophy democratizes soft robotics, making complex material programming intuitive. Though early in her career, Vihmar’s contributions are already shaping how we define and measure robot intelligence, bridging theory and practice. Her innovative fusion of materials science, biology, and education promises to redefine autonomous systems for unpredictable real-world challenges.