Papers
18
Total Citations
494
H-Index
11
About
Sofia Petisca is a leading researcher in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), focusing on the social and ethical dimensions of bringing robots into everyday human environments. Her work centers on trust, social dynamics, and the design of empathic robotic systems for education and elderly care. In her highly cited paper, “The case of classroom robots: teachers’ deliberations on the ethical tensions” (156 citations), she critically examines the ethical challenges educators face when integrating robots into schools. Petisca’s research on trust in human-robot teams, explored through card game experiments (“Just follow the suit!”, 50 citations), reveals how robots can be designed to foster cooperation and positive social bonds. She has also pioneered frameworks for using social robots to support aging in place (“Social Robots for Older Adults”, 45 citations), addressing the psychological and physical challenges of an aging population. Her innovative use of restricted-perception Wizard-of-Oz studies (“Discovering social interaction strategies”, 41 citations) provides a robust methodology for developing natural interaction strategies. By investigating children’s expectations of robotic tutors and the nuances of non-verbal behavior in mixed human-robot groups, Petisca’s work consistently pushes toward “more humane machines,” ensuring that as robots enter our lives, they do so as trusted, empathetic partners.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1The case of classroom robots: teachers’ deliberations on the ethical tensions156 citations · 2016
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- 6Friends or Foes?34 citations · 2018
- 7“I Choose... YOU!” Membership preferences in human–robot teams23 citations · 2018
- 8Cheating with robots: how at ease do they make us feel?18 citations · 2019
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- 10Towards more humane machines14 citations · 2018