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About

Hadas Erel is a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction (HRI), with a particular focus on the social and emotional dimensions of robotic objects in everyday human life. Her work is distinguished by a consistent emphasis on non-humanoid, abstract robotic designs—a deliberate departure from conventional anthropomorphic approaches—exploring how simple robotic objects can profoundly shape human social experience. Erel's most influential contributions include her widely cited work on home robotic devices for older adults (118 citations), where she mapped both the promise and ethical concerns of deploying robots in aging populations. Her "Greeting Machine" project (89 citations) broke new ground by demonstrating that abstract robots could meaningfully mediate social encounters. She has further expanded the field through research on human-human-robot interaction, showing that robotic objects can improve interpersonal evaluations and emotional support quality between people, not just between humans and machines. Among her most thought-provoking findings is that robots are inherently perceived as social agents, even when assigned no social role, and that robotic interactions carry lasting psychological effects into subsequent human-human exchanges. With over 570 cumulative citations, Erel's body of work offers essential insights for designers, psychologists, and technologists shaping the future of social robotics.