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About

Rebekka Soma is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction, specializing in how robots communicate through movement and behavior. Her work bridges robotics and ethology, focusing on the subtle signals robots use to interact effectively with humans. Soma’s most influential paper, “Communicative Robot Signals” (2023, 10 citations), introduces a novel typology for classifying robot-to-human signals, drawing inspiration from animal behavior studies to create a foundational framework for the field. Her 2018 study, “Facilitating Robots at Home” (7 citations), examines how autonomous robot movement transforms human work and collaboration in domestic settings. In “Movement acts in breakdown situations” (2021, 7 citations), Soma explores how people perceive robots during navigation errors, revealing critical insights for designing more trustworthy recovery procedures. Her recent work, “AMoRE” (2024, 4 citations), proposes four perspectives for understanding evolving human attitudes toward robots. Soma’s research is distinguished by its phenomenological approach, applying principles from film animation and biological perception to make robot behavior more intuitive and socially acceptable. With a growing citation impact, she is shaping how engineers design robots that move, signal, and recover in ways humans naturally understand.