Yael Edan

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Yael Edan is a researcher whose work sits at the intersection of human-robot interaction (HRI), robot communication, and explainable robotics. Her research explores how robots can become more intuitive, transparent, and socially acceptable partners for human collaborators. A central thread in her work is the study of politeness in HRI: drawing on Lakoff's politeness theory, Edan conducted an ambitious series of eight experiments manipulating different levels of politeness in non-humanoid robots, demonstrating that social norms traditionally applied to human communication can meaningfully shape how people perceive and interact with robotic systems. These studies have collectively garnered 8 citations since 2022, reflecting growing interest in the social dimensions of robotics. More recently, Edan has turned her attention to explainability, investigating how robots can verbalize their reasoning to improve human understanding during collaborative tasks. Her 2024 exploratory study introduced levels of explanation frameworks addressing both the "what" and "why" of robot behavior — a contribution that speaks directly to the challenge of building human trust in AI systems. Her body of work offers valuable insights for researchers and designers working to make robots more effective and socially intelligent partners.