Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Canmian Liu is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction within the hospitality and service industries, whose work explores the psychological and behavioral dynamics between customers and service robots. Her research focuses on how robot design—such as proactive behavior, communication modalities, and even uniform style—shapes customer engagement, co-creation intention, and trust. Liu’s most-cited paper, “Proactivity or passivity? An investigation of the effect of service robots’ proactive behaviour on customer co-creation intention” (2022, 80 citations), established a foundational framework for understanding when proactive robot behavior encourages versus discourages customer participation. She further advanced this line of inquiry by examining how interaction orientation and corporate reputation moderate consumer engagement with proactive robots (2022, 42 citations). Her work on robot uniforms and language style (2023, 43 citations) reveals the nuanced role of social cues in service encounters. More recently, Liu has pioneered the concept of artificial empathy in driving human-robot value co-creation (2024, 19 citations), and investigated how speaking versus touching affects consumer responses (2024, 9 citations). Her research is highly cited and influential, offering actionable insights for designing robots that foster positive, collaborative customer experiences.