Papers
43
Total Citations
831
H-Index
14
About
Elaine Schaertl Short is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction (HRI) and socially assistive robotics (SAR), whose work explores how robots can meaningfully engage with humans across educational, therapeutic, and collaborative contexts. Her foundational 2010 study, "No Fair!! An Interaction with a Cheating Robot" (165 citations), revealed how subtle behavioral variations in robots trigger rich human attributions of intentionality and mental states — a finding with lasting implications for robot design and ethics. Short has made significant contributions to child-robot interaction, demonstrating through her DragonBot nutrition study (124 citations) that robots can serve as effective, enjoyable learning companions for young children. Her work extends to vulnerable populations, including post-stroke rehabilitation patients and children with autism, where she has explored how robot feedback and agency shape therapeutic outcomes. Short has also advanced technical dimensions of HRI, developing algorithms for gaze prediction, intent recognition, and augmented reality path visualization to support safer and more fluid human-robot collaboration. Her research into group and intergenerational interactions further distinguishes her portfolio, pushing SAR into complex social environments. With over 500 cumulative citations, Short's scholarship sits at a vital intersection of robotics, psychology, and human-centered design.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1No fair!! An interaction with a cheating robot165 citations · 2010
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- 3Human Gaze Following for Human-Robot Interaction56 citations · 2018
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- 7No fair!!26 citations · 2010
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- 9Dynamic Path Visualization for Human-Robot Collaboration23 citations · 2021
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