Janani Swaminathan

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Janani Swaminathan is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction (HRI), autonomous systems, and computational humor. Her work redefines how robots engage with people in real-world, unstructured environments, moving beyond controlled lab studies to in-the-wild experimentation. Swaminathan’s most cited paper, "Robots That Run their Own Human Experiments: Exploring Relational Humor with Multi-Robot Comedy" (2021, 11 citations), introduces a groundbreaking street-style study method where robots autonomously recruit audiences, conduct experiments, and gather data—using multi-robot comedy as a compelling testbed. This work challenges traditional HRI methodologies by giving robots agency in their own research, opening new avenues for studying relational dynamics and humor in natural settings. Her follow-up, "A Semi-automated Multi-robot Comedy Performance System with Gesture" (2025), advances this vision by integrating gesture into semi-automated performances, reducing the burden of hand-animation while maintaining expressive, multi-robot interactions. Swaminathan’s contributions are notable for merging technical innovation with creative performance, demonstrating how robots can not only perform but also design and execute their own human experiments. Her work has significant implications for autonomous social robots, entertainment robotics, and scalable HRI research, positioning her as a rising leader in making robots more adaptive, engaging, and scientifically autonomous.