Petra Jaecks
Papers
6
Total Citations
71
H-Index
4
About
Petra Jaecks is a leading researcher at the intersection of social robotics, human-robot interaction (HRI), and affective computing. Her work centers on how robots can perceive, express, and align with human emotions to create more natural and intuitive interactions. A key contribution is her pioneering eye-tracking study on gaze behavior during HRI with individuals on the autism spectrum, which revealed distinct patterns compared to neurotypical users—a finding cited over 40 times and influential for designing therapeutic robotic applications. Jaecks has also developed a computational model of emotional alignment, enabling robots to adapt their emotional expressions to match a human partner’s, thereby enhancing social competence. Her research further investigates the role of emotional congruence—how verbal and facial expressions align—in both human-human and human-robot contexts. Through these studies, she has demonstrated that emotional adaptation is tightly linked to communicative alignment, a principle she has articulated in multiple highly cited papers. With a career dedicated to bridging emotion theory and robotics, Jaecks’ work is foundational for creating socially aware robots capable of meaningful, therapeutic, and everyday interaction.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2A computational model of emotional alignment8 citations · 2011
- 3The role of emotional congruence in human-robot interaction7 citations · 2013
- 4The role of emotional congruence in human-robot interaction5 citations · 2013
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- 6