Junya Nakanishi

About

Junya Nakanishi is a prominent human-robot interaction researcher whose work sits at the intersection of social robotics, service industries, and real-world deployment of intelligent systems. His research focuses on how humanoid and teleoperated robots can meaningfully integrate into commercial and hospitality environments, tackling fundamental questions about trust, communication, and the quality of human-robot social encounters. Nakanishi's most influential contribution explores how robots can sustain genuine, heartwarming interactions in hospitality settings — his hotel robot studies (73 and 39 citations respectively) were among the first to rigorously examine continuous, long-term robot-customer engagement in real deployments. He has advanced the field of teleoperation research, demonstrating how remotely operated robots can enhance customer satisfaction and even outperform autonomous systems in nuanced service tasks like retail sales. His field studies across hotels, shopping malls, and bakeries ground his findings in authentic commercial contexts rather than laboratory conditions. Beyond service applications, Nakanishi has investigated robots as mental health support tools, showing their potential to reduce anger and encourage self-disclosure. His work on voice pitch, gender perception, and pedestrian attraction behaviors further reflects his comprehensive approach to robot design. With over 330 cumulative citations, his research is shaping how the next generation of service robots will be designed and deployed.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Continuous Hospitality with Social Robots at a hotel

   73 citations · 2020
2. 2
   Can a Humanoid Robot Engage in Heartwarming Interaction Service at a Hotel?

   39 citations · 2018
3. 3
   Teleoperated Robot Sells Toothbrush in a Shopping Mall: A Field Study

   33 citations · 2021
4. 4
   A Robot That Encourages Self-Disclosure to Reduce Anger Mood

   33 citations · 2021
5. 5
   Local vs. Avatar Robot: Performance and Perceived Workload of Service Encounters in Public Space

   32 citations · 2021
6. 6
   Behavioral Assessment of a Humanoid Robot When Attracting Pedestrians in a Mall

   31 citations · 2022
7. 7
   Teleoperated Robot Acting Autonomous for Better Customer Satisfaction

   27 citations · 2020
8. 8
   Mind The Voice!: Effect of Robot Voice Pitch, Robot Voice Gender, and User Gender on User Perception of Teleoperated Robots

   22 citations · 2020
9. 9
   Playful Recommendation: Sales Promotion That Robots Stimulate Pleasant Feelings Instead of Product Explanation

   22 citations · 2022
10. 10
    Service Robots in a Bakery Shop: A Field Study

    22 citations · 2022

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links