Lynn de Rijk
Papers
2
Total Citations
20
H-Index
2
About
Lynn de Rijk is a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction (HRI), specializing in the nuanced dynamics of communication breakdowns and social perception. Her work centers on how people navigate miscommunication with robots and how design choices—such as gender presentation—shape user behavior. In her highly cited 2022 study, “Pepper, what do you mean?”, de Rijk analyzed 36 video-recorded interactions between elderly users and a robot, uncovering how users employ repair strategies to maintain dialogue when misunderstandings occur. This foundational research, with 14 citations, highlights the critical role of interactional trouble in task-oriented HRI. Her 2024 follow-up, “This uh. . . young lady young gentleman,” examines gender attribution in encounters with a deliberately gender-ambiguous robot. Using conversation analysis, de Rijk reveals how users grapple with this design choice, often defaulting to binary gender labels despite the robot’s neutrality. This work, earning 6 citations, challenges assumptions about avoiding stereotypes through ambiguity. De Rijk’s contributions are vital for designing more inclusive, responsive robots, and her methodical use of video data sets a standard for empirical HRI research. Her insights are essential reading for students and researchers exploring the intersection of language, social norms, and technology.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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