David Porfirio

About

David Porfirio is a human-robot interaction researcher whose work sits at the intersection of social robotics, end-user programming, and interaction design. His research addresses a fundamental challenge: how can designers, developers, and everyday users create robot behaviors that are socially appropriate, intuitive to program, and adaptable to real-world contexts? Porfirio's most influential contributions include pioneering the application of automated formal verification to human-robot interaction design, enabling engineers to detect and prevent social norm violations before deployment ("Authoring and Verifying Human-Robot Interactions," 57 citations). His work on bodystorming (44 citations) brought embodied, participatory design methods to robotics, lowering barriers for non-specialists. Through tools like Figaro and his research on on-the-fly robot programming (19 citations), he has consistently pushed toward more accessible, expressive authoring environments for social robots. A recurring theme across his portfolio is empowering end users — from professional designers to caregivers — to shape robot behavior without sacrificing complexity or autonomy. His explorations of goal-oriented programming and social context adaptation reflect a nuanced understanding of how robots must function across diverse human environments. With over 160 cumulative citations, Porfirio's work is shaping the future of accessible, socially intelligent robot programming.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Authoring and Verifying Human-Robot Interactions

   57 citations · 2018
2. 2
   Bodystorming Human-Robot Interactions

   44 citations · 2019
3. 3
   Sketching Robot Programs On the Fly

   19 citations · 2023
4. 4
   Transforming Robot Programs Based on Social Context

   13 citations · 2020
5. 5
   Figaro: A Tabletop Authoring Environment for Human-Robot Interaction

   11 citations · 2021
6. 6
   Goal-Oriented End-User Programming of Robots

   7 citations · 2024
7. 7
   Computational Tools for Human-Robot Interaction Design

   6 citations · 2019
8. 8
   Understanding On-the-Fly End-User Robot Programming

   3 citations · 2024
9. 9
   Guidelines for a Human-Robot Interaction Specification Language

   2 citations · 2023
10. 10
    Considerations for End-User Development in the Caregiving Domain

    2 citations · 2024

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links