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About

Tomoya Tabata is a robotics researcher focused on developing socially aware assistive robots for elderly care, particularly in complex multi-party environments. His work addresses the challenge of enabling service robots to manage simultaneous requests from multiple individuals—a critical requirement in real-world care facilities. Tabata’s major contributions include designing robots that use nonverbal cues, such as gaze and bodily actions, to communicate the order of service provision, drawing on ethnographic studies of human caregivers. His most-cited paper, “Assisted-care robot dealing with multiple requests in multi-party settings” (9 citations), lays the groundwork for robots that can prioritize and respond to multiple users. Related works, such as “A considerate care robot able to serve in multi-party settings” (7 citations) and “Care robot able to show the order of service provision through bodily actions” (4 citations), further refine these interaction models. Tabata also explores hand gesture recognition for request detection, as seen in his 2013 paper. Though his citation counts are modest, his research is pioneering in human-robot interaction for eldercare, emphasizing considerate, context-aware service that respects social norms. His work has practical implications for improving quality of life in aging societies.