Matan Epstein

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About

Matan Epstein’s research lies at the intersection of social robotics, cognitive science, and human-robot interaction, with a focus on using robots as tools to study human behavior. Her pioneering work introduces social robots as objective, repeatable, and robust assessment instruments—an approach that overcomes the variability inherent in human-led evaluations. In her most cited paper, “Social Robots as Physical Curiosity Assessment Tools” (2018, 7 citations), Epstein demonstrates how robots can reliably measure cognitive and social traits, opening new avenues for developmental and psychological research. Her follow-up study, “Studying Dynamics of Human Information Gathering Behaviors Using Social Robots” (2021, 5 citations), explores how people adapt and gather social information during dynamic interactions, deepening our understanding of the mechanisms behind human engagement. Epstein’s contributions are notable for bridging engineering and psychology, offering a scalable, unbiased methodology for assessing curiosity and information-seeking. Her work has implications for education, autism research, and human-robot collaboration, positioning her as an emerging leader in the design of socially aware robotic systems.