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About

Alice Chirico is a leading researcher in the fields of human-robot interaction (HRI) and collaborative robotics, with a particular focus on the psychophysiological and social dynamics that underpin successful human-machine teamwork. Her work explores how factors like leader-follower roles and kinematic synchronization influence collaboration, using innovative tools such as virtual reality to create safe, controlled environments for testing. Chirico’s major contributions include demonstrating how a robot’s role and movement patterns can directly impact a human partner’s automatic imitation and psychophysiological state, laying the groundwork for more intuitive and empathetic robotic systems. Her most cited paper, "Using Virtual Reality to Test Human-Robot Interaction During a Collaborative Task" (2019, 30 citations), highlights her pioneering approach to integrating VR as a testbed for HRI. Further influential works, such as "On the Effects of Leader–Follower Roles in Dyadic Human–Robot Synchronization" (2020, 25 citations) and "Machines Like Us and People Like You: Toward Human–Robot Shared Experience" (2021, 20 citations), have collectively shaped the discourse on creating robots that can share experiences and synchronize naturally with humans. With a growing citation record, Chirico is a rising voice in the quest to build robots that work not just alongside us, but in genuine partnership with us.