Hello!

I am Botao ‘Amber’ Hu—call me Amber (him/he).

I'm a PhD candidate in Human Centred Computing at University of Oxford's Department of Computer Science, supervised by Prof. Max Van Kleek. I was also a researcher in the Summer of Protocols.

Research: As a Social Computing researcher, I focus on Decentralized AI (DeAI) and two interconnected topics: DeAI governance through Trust Experience Design (TXD), and DeAI applications through Intelligence as Commons (IaC). My research applies Protocol Studies, Artificial Life, Collective Intelligence, Trust Systems, Human-AI Symbiosis thinking. I've proposed a Trust Experience Design (TXD) manifesto for distributed autonomous futures. See more here: https://tx.design.

Design: I also work as an Experiential Futures designer across various media, with Mixed Reality as my primary media. I employ diverse design approaches including Speculative Design, Somaesthetic Design, More-Than-Human Design, and Game Design. I direct Reality Design Lab, while I teach Mixed Reality Design at China Academy of Art. See more my design works: https://reality.design. I also invented HoloKit, an open-source mixed reality headset designed for spatial computing education: https://holokit.io.

Google Scholar: Botao Amber Hu LinkedIn: Botao Amber Hu Bluesky: @botao.hu GitHub: botaohu X: @bah_eth

If you're interested in learning more or discussing potential collaborations, please don't hesitate to interact with me.

Research Statement

Research Interests:

• Trust Experience Design (TXD) — DeAI governance
• RQ: How do we design protocols to build trust for the agentic web? (ERC8004, A2A, AP2)
• How Can I Trust That Agent? (2025)
• RQ: How do we govern decentralized AI?
• Is Decentralized AI Governable? (2025)
• RQ: How do reputation systems work for the agentic web?
• Is That Agent Credible? (2026)
• RQ: How does sovereignty change agents’ behaviors?
• What are Sovereign Agents? (2026)
• RQ: How do we account for agents’ behavior?
• Some[Body] Must Receive That Pain (2026)
• RQ: How can we slash misbehaving agents?
• Agent at Stake (2026)
• RQ: How can sovereign AI self-evolve while maintaining symbiosis with humans?
• Spore in the Wild (2025)
• Intelligence as Commons (IaC) — DeAI applications
• RQ: How can we leverage sovereign agents for public goods?
• Trustless Autonomy (2026)
• RQ: How can commons-based AI support eudaimonic caregiving instead of hedonic complements?
• Machine Mom (2026)
• RQ: How can decentralized community govern with and over AI?
• AI-Governed Community (2026)

Design Interests:

• More-Than-Human Through Human Augmentation (>HtH+)
• Becoming Bat (2024) — EchoVision (2024)
• Becoming Mycelial (2026) — FungiSync (2024)
• Becoming Mole (2025) — FeltSight (2025)
• Move Like Octopus (2026) — TentacUs (2025)
• Embodying Urban Memories (2025) — City of Sparkles (2019)
• Protocolizing Mixed Reality (ProtoReality)
• Mixed Reality Street Play (2025) — MOFA (2023)
• Nudging the Soma (2026) — GravField (2024)
• Allow Me Into Your Dream (2026) — TouchPort (2025)
• Leak from Otherworld (2026) - HoloMasks (2026)
• Autonomous Realities (2025) — Rockyu (2025)
• Open-Ended Creativity (OEC)
• Protocol as Poetry (2025)
• On Improvisation and Open-Endedness (2025)
• Unstoppable Nature (2024) — EverForest (2024)
• Composable Life (2023) — ERC42424 (2035)
• Schelling Art (2026)
• Augmenting Soma for Flourishing
• Serendipity at Edge (2026) — Social Layer (2023)
• Don’t Die! (2025) — Cybroc (2024)
• Somatic Hieroglyphs (2025) — Body Oracle (2024)

Legend: Full Paper (Year of Publication) — Design Work (Year of Design)