Johan Vanderfaeillie

About

Johan Vanderfaeillie is a leading researcher in the field of social robotics and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), with a career dedicated to exploring how humanoid and social robots can support social and emotional development in children. His work centers on the design and application of robots like Probo and NAO as therapeutic tools, investigating their effectiveness in teaching emotion recognition, joint attention, and social skills. Vanderfaeillie’s most cited paper, "Expressing Emotions with the Social Robot Probo" (2010, 156 citations), laid foundational groundwork for robot-assisted interventions. His subsequent studies, including "Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Make a Fruit Salad with Probo" (2015, 107 citations) and a series of single-case experiments on emotion identification (2013, 93 citations), demonstrate significant impact, collectively amassing over 500 citations. Notably, his comparative work on social stories delivered by robots versus computer displays (2013, 73 citations) and robot-assisted joint attention (2020, 42 citations) has advanced understanding of how robotic interaction can outperform traditional methods. Vanderfaeillie’s innovative approaches, such as the Probogotchi edutainment device (2016), highlight his commitment to bridging social gaps for children with ASD, making him a pivotal figure in human-robot interaction research.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Expressing Emotions with the Social Robot Probo

   156 citations · 2010
2. 2
   Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Make a Fruit Salad with Probo, the Social Robot: An Interaction Study

   107 citations · 2015
3. 3
   CAN THE SOCIAL ROBOT PROBO HELP CHILDREN WITH AUTISM TO IDENTIFY SITUATION-BASED EMOTIONS? A SERIES OF SINGLE CASE EXPERIMENTS

   93 citations · 2013
4. 4
   Social Robots vs. Computer Display: Does the Way Social Stories are Delivered Make a Difference for Their Effectiveness on ASD Children?

   73 citations · 2013
5. 5
   Robot-Assisted Joint Attention: A Comparative Study Between Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typically Developing Children in Interaction With NAO

   42 citations · 2020
6. 6
   Is the social robot probo an added value for social story intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders?

   15 citations · 2012
7. 7
   Could NAO Robot Function as Model Demonstrating Joint Attention Skills for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder? An Exploratory Study

   9 citations · 2022
8. 8
   Probogotchi: a novel edutainment device as a bridge for interaction between a child with ASD and the typically developed sibling

   9 citations · 2016
9. 9
   “Can You Cure me? Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Playing a Doctor Game With a Social Robot”

   6 citations · 2016
10. 10
    Is the social robot Probo an added value for Social Story Intervention for children with ASD

    5 citations · 2012

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links