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About

Makoto Fujisawa is a robotics researcher whose work centers on human-robot interaction, socially aware navigation, and intuitive communication between autonomous mobile robots and people in shared public spaces. His research addresses a fundamental challenge in modern robotics: how machines can express their intentions clearly enough that everyday pedestrians feel comfortable and informed when encountering them. Fujisawa's most recognized contribution, cited 13 times, demonstrated that rotational head movements can effectively convey a teleoperated robot's intentions to nearby pedestrians, significantly improving human impressions of robotic behavior. Building on this foundation, he developed face interface systems — including 3D CG facial displays — that allow mobile robots to announce upcoming actions before executing them, reducing the surprise and discomfort people often experience around unfamiliar machines. His 2020 work on this approach has garnered 7 citations, reflecting growing scholarly interest in expressive robot interfaces. Beyond expressiveness, Fujisawa has explored socially normative path planning, designing collision avoidance algorithms that incorporate cultural traffic rules, such as keeping to the right in corridors, to make robot navigation feel natural and predictable. Collectively, his research contributes meaningfully to the emerging field of socially intelligent robotics, offering practical pathways toward safer and more harmonious human-robot coexistence in everyday environments.