Jakub Dakowski
Papers
1
Total Citations
12
H-Index
1
About
Jakub Dakowski investigates the intersection of human-robot interaction, social cognition, and virtual reality, focusing on the psychological mechanisms that shape our responses to artificial agents. His most cited work, "The Importance of Beliefs in Human Nature Uniqueness for Uncanny Valley in Virtual Reality and On-Screen" (2023, 12 citations), makes a significant contribution by demonstrating how essentialist beliefs—specifically, the conviction that humans possess unique, non-physical qualities—intensify the uncanny valley effect. In a carefully designed virtual café experiment, Dakowski showed that participants who strongly endorsed human nature uniqueness reported greater eeriness toward robots, an effect that was amplified in immersive virtual reality compared to on-screen presentations. This finding bridges cognitive science and human-computer interaction, revealing that our discomfort with humanlike machines is not merely perceptual but deeply rooted in philosophical beliefs about what makes us human. His work has practical implications for designing more acceptable social robots and virtual agents, particularly in therapeutic and educational settings. By experimentally linking abstract metaphysical beliefs to concrete technological experiences, Dakowski offers a nuanced framework for understanding why some people recoil from humanlike robots while others embrace them.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
- 1