Papers
8
Total Citations
42
H-Index
4
About
Ross Sowell’s research sits at the critical intersection of human-robot interaction, privacy, and trust. His primary focus is on making teleoperated robots—like remote presence systems—both useful and respectful of the people sharing space with them. In his most-cited work, "Video Manipulation Techniques for the Protection of Privacy in Remote Presence Systems" (14 citations), Sowell pioneered methods to obscure sensitive visual information from remote operators, demonstrating through user studies that privacy can be preserved without destroying the system’s utility. He further explored this trade-off in "Privacy, Utility, and Cognitive Load in Remote Presence Systems" (7 citations), showing that protecting privacy often increases the mental effort required by the operator—a key design challenge. Sowell also investigates how people build trust with robots, notably in his work on specifying physical “no-go” zones using different interfaces (physical, AR, and map-based). A unique thread in his research is the use of hand-drawn maps and sketches to improve human-robot communication, bridging intuitive human expression with sensor-generated data. By quantifying the delicate balance between privacy, cognitive load, and trust, Sowell’s work provides foundational guidance for designing robots that are both capable and considerate.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 3Privacy, Utility, and Cognitive Load in Remote Presence Systems7 citations · 2017
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- 5Privacy, Utility, and Cognitive Load in Remote Presence Systems4 citations · 2019
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- 8Sketched Floor plans versus SLAM maps: A Comparison2 citations · 2016