Brandon Harpold

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Brandon Harpold’s research lies at the intersection of human-robot interaction (HRI) and social robotics, with a focused emphasis on the psychological mechanisms that underpin trust between humans and autonomous systems. His work systematically investigates how subtle design and behavioral cues—specifically robot form and interpersonal distance—shape user acceptance and reliance. In his most cited study, "The Influence of Robot Form on Trust" (2015, 4 citations), Harpold demonstrated that a robot’s physical appearance significantly modulates a user’s level of trust, offering early empirical evidence for the critical role of anthropomorphism in assistive robotics. Expanding on this, his paper "Interpersonal distance effects on trust relationships in human-robot interaction" (2015, 2 citations) explored how spatial behavior—a fundamental component of human social norms—directly impacts trust formation in military, industrial, and domestic HRI contexts. Though his citation counts reflect a nascent stage of impact, Harpold’s contributions are notable for pioneering controlled experiments that isolate specific, manipulable variables in trust dynamics. His work provides foundational insights for designers of socially assistive robots, underscoring that trust is not merely a function of task performance but is deeply influenced by the robot’s embodiment and proxemic behavior.