Papers
19
Total Citations
582
H-Index
8
About
Xiang Zhi Tan is a human-robot interaction researcher whose work sits at the intersection of social robotics, nonverbal communication, and assistive technology. Their most influential contribution examines how robots can deploy human-like conversational behaviors — most notably gaze aversion — to create more natural and credible interactions, a paper that has accumulated over 200 citations and remains a cornerstone reference in social robotics design. Tan has significantly advanced understanding of multi-robot interactions, exploring how users perceive transitions between robots and how social presence can extend across multiple embodiments, concepts developed in their widely cited work on re-embodiment and co-embodiment. A distinctive thread in their research addresses robot vulnerability and social dynamics: their study on bystander intervention during robot abuse demonstrated that robots can strategically invoke social norms to elicit protective behavior from nearby humans — a striking finding with over 80 citations. Tan has also made meaningful contributions to accessibility technology, developing coupled navigation systems to assist blind and low-vision users. Collectively, their body of work — spanning robot failure, human attention, and assistive robotics — reflects a sustained commitment to designing robots that function intelligently and ethically within complex human social environments.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Conversational gaze aversion for humanlike robots203 citations · 2014
- 2Re-Embodiment and Co-Embodiment112 citations · 2019
- 3Inducing Bystander Interventions During Robot Abuse with Social Mechanisms86 citations · 2018
- 4
- 5Interaction Needs and Opportunities for Failing Robots22 citations · 2019
- 6Coupled Indoor Navigation for People Who Are Blind20 citations · 2018
- 7Death of a Robot20 citations · 2020
- 8Follow The Robot: Modeling Coupled Human-Robot Dyads During Navigation16 citations · 2019
- 9Now, Over Here8 citations · 2020
- 10Go That Way8 citations · 2019