P. Ravindra S. De Silva
Papers
10
Total Citations
138
H-Index
6
About
P. Ravindra S. De Silva is a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction, with a focus on sociable robots that foster social and cognitive development in children. His work centers on designing autonomous systems that engage in meaningful, child-dependent interactions, particularly for children with autism. De Silva’s most influential contribution is the **Sociable Trash Box (STB)**—a robot that collects trash while conveying intentional stance and building social rapport through affiliation behaviors. This work, cited 65 times, demonstrates how robots can encourage prosocial behavior in children. He also developed **STB: Child-Dependent Sociable Trash Box** (2011) and an assistive robot to improve imitation skills in children with autism (2010, 21 citations), highlighting his commitment to therapeutic applications. Beyond trash collection, De Silva explored conversational interfaces with **MAWARI** (2011) and **Talking-Ally** (2014), which reduce workload and influence hearer behavior through utterance generation. His **Sociable Dining Table** series (2014–2015) investigates incremental meaning acquisition via mutual adaptation, pushing boundaries in proto-communication. With over 130 total citations, De Silva’s work is foundational for creating robots that adapt to human social cues, making him a key figure in child-robot interaction and assistive robotics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1STB: Child-Dependent Sociable Trash Box65 citations · 2011
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- 3STB: human-dependent sociable trash box18 citations · 2010
- 4MAWARI: A Social Interface to Reduce the Workload of the Conversation8 citations · 2011
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- 7STB: Intentional Stance Grounded Child-Dependent Robot5 citations · 2010
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- 10Designing Sociable CULOT as a Playground Character1 citations · 2014