Takashi Minato

About

Takashi Minato is a pioneering robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of android development, human-robot interaction, and cognitive robotics. Based at Osaka University's ERATO project and affiliated institutions, Minato has spent two decades advancing some of the most sophisticated humanoid systems ever created, accumulating over 1,000 citations across his most influential publications alone. His landmark contributions include the development of ERICA, an intelligent conversational android (174 citations), and foundational work on mapping human motion to generate naturalistic android behavior (154 citations). His 2004 study on android development for human-robot interaction research (158 citations) helped establish the methodological framework still used today for studying how appearance and behavior shape human perception of robots. The CB2 child robot project (133 citations) extended his work into cognitive developmental robotics, exploring how biomimetic design can illuminate human developmental processes. Minato has also made significant strides in physical human-robot interaction, investigating mutual adaptation and learning (132 citations), and has rigorously examined phenomena such as the "uncanny valley" through gaze behavior and unconscious recognition studies. His research on touch interaction further reflects his commitment to understanding the nuanced social dimensions of human-android contact, making him a central figure in the quest to build robots that genuinely resonate with human experience.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   ERICA: The ERATO Intelligent Conversational Android

   174 citations · 2016
2. 2
   Development of an Android Robot for Studying Human-Robot Interaction

   158 citations · 2004
3. 3
   Generating natural motion in an android by mapping human motion

   154 citations · 2005
4. 4
   CB2: A child robot with biomimetic body for cognitive developmental robotics

   133 citations · 2007
5. 5
   Physical Human-Robot Interaction: Mutual Learning and Adaptation

   132 citations · 2012
6. 6
   Assessing Human Likeness by Eye Contact in an Android Testbed

   81 citations · 2005
7. 7
   What Kinds of Robot's Touch Will Match Expressed Emotions?

   60 citations · 2019
8. 8
   Evaluating the human likeness of an android by comparing gaze behaviors elicited by the android and a person

   57 citations · 2006
9. 9
   Evaluation of Android Using Unconscious Recognition

   41 citations · 2006
10. 10
    Minimal Human Design Approach for sonzai-kan Media: Investigation of a Feeling of Human Presence

    40 citations · 2014

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links