Paula Alexandra Silva
Papers
4
Total Citations
82
H-Index
3
About
Paula Alexandra Silva is a leading researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction (HRI), virtual reality (VR), and safety engineering. Her work focuses on making collaborative robots (cobots) safer and more trustworthy for human partners, particularly through the innovative use of VR as a testing and development platform. Her most-cited paper, "Virtual Reality for Safe Testing and Development in Collaborative Robotics: Challenges and Perspectives" (2022, 49 citations), outlines how VR can simulate hazardous human-robot collaboration scenarios without physical risk, a critical step toward real-world deployment. Silva also explores the psychological dimensions of HRI, as seen in her study "The robot eyes don't have it" (2023, 5 citations), which found that adding human-like eyes to cobots marginally increased user trust but unexpectedly reduced task performance—a counterintuitive result that challenges assumptions about anthropomorphism in robotics. Beyond empirical work, she has examined how science fiction shapes HCI research (2018, 26 citations), bridging speculative narratives with practical design. Silva’s contributions are vital for developing cobots that are not only physically safe but also psychologically comfortable for human coworkers, directly impacting the future of manufacturing, healthcare, and service robotics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 2Exploring the Referral and Usage of Science Fiction in HCI Literature26 citations · 2018
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