Atef Ben-Youssef
Papers
2
Total Citations
125
H-Index
2
About
Atef Ben-Youssef is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction (HRI), specializing in the computational modeling of user engagement and social signal processing. His work focuses on enabling robots to perceive, predict, and respond to human behavior during spontaneous, unscripted interactions. Ben-Youssef’s major contributions include the creation of the UE-HRI dataset, a landmark resource that captures natural, free-flowing conversations between humans and the Pepper robot. This dataset, cited over 95 times, has become a foundational tool for studying engagement dynamics in HRI. He further advanced the field by developing a supervised classification system for the early detection of user engagement breakdowns—predicting when a user is likely to abandon an interaction before it occurs. This work, cited 30 times, has direct implications for designing more adaptive and socially aware robots. By tackling the challenge of spontaneous interaction, Ben-Youssef’s research bridges the gap between controlled lab studies and real-world deployment, making him a key figure in the quest for robots that can sustain meaningful, long-term social bonds with humans.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 2