Daniel Carton

About

Daniel Carton’s research lies at the intersection of human-robot interaction (HRI), autonomous navigation, and computer vision, with a focus on enabling mobile robots to operate naturally alongside people in urban and human environments. His most cited work (174 citations) introduces a real-time 3D hand gesture recognition system using the Kinect depth sensor, allowing robots to understand human directions through robust, background-invariant gestures. Carton has also pioneered proactive HRI, developing methods for mobile robots to autonomously approach and initiate conversations with pedestrians—a key step toward socially aware robots. His work on “readability” in robot locomotion (29 citations) and socio-contextual constraints for approaching humans (17 citations) has shaped how robots communicate intent through motion. Carton contributed to the IURO (Interactive Urban Robot) project, which explored multimodal interaction—combining speech, gesture, and facial mimicry—on the streets of Munich. His research on depth data recovery using superpixels (21 citations) and human trajectory modeling has advanced both perception and motion planning. With a strong emphasis on real-world validation, Carton’s work bridges technical innovation and social robotics, making him a notable figure in the push toward robots that integrate seamlessly into shared public spaces.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Real-time 3D hand gesture interaction with a robot for understanding directions from humans

   174 citations · 2011
2. 2
   Proactively Approaching Pedestrians with an Autonomous Mobile Robot in Urban Environments

   34 citations · 2013
3. 3
   Measuring the Effectiveness of Readability for Mobile Robot Locomotion

   29 citations · 2016
4. 4
   Towards proactive human-robot interaction in human environments

   28 citations · 2011
5. 5
   Depth SEEDS: Recovering incomplete depth data using superpixels

   21 citations · 2013
6. 6
   Socio-Contextual Constraints for Human Approach with a Mobile Robot

   17 citations · 2017
7. 7
   Towards Assessing the Human Trajectory Planning Horizon

   11 citations · 2016
8. 8
   Using penalized spline regression to calculate mean trajectories including confidence intervals of human motion data

   8 citations · 2014
9. 9
   IURO – Soziale Mensch-Roboter-Interaktion in den Straßen von München

   4 citations · 2015
10. 10
    Proactive human approach in dynamic environments

    2 citations · 2012

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links