Chris Uhlik

Papers

Total Citations

348

H-Index

About

Chris Uhlik is a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction, with a focused expertise in telepresence robotics—a field that merges mobile robotics with real-time video communication to enable remote presence. His foundational work, particularly the highly cited 2011 study "Exploring use cases for telepresence robots" (248 citations), systematically identified and categorized the transformative applications of these embodied systems, from facilitating ad-hoc office conversations to enabling remote factory inspections and medical patient rounds. In a companion study, "Essential features of telepresence robots" (100 citations), Uhlik conducted rigorous user studies at Google in Mountain View, distilling the critical design elements that make telepresence robots effective and intuitive. His contributions established a core framework for understanding how these "video conferencing on wheels" can bridge physical distance, directly influencing the development of commercial telepresence platforms. Uhlik’s work remains essential reading for students and engineers designing remote collaboration tools, providing the empirical foundation for a technology that has become increasingly vital in distributed work and healthcare environments.