About

Elizabeth Phillips is a prominent researcher in human-robot interaction (HRI), whose work spans robot appearance, trust dynamics, and immersive interfaces for robot control. With over 1,150 citations across her most influential papers, Phillips has made foundational contributions to how humans perceive, trust, and collaborate with robotic systems. Her early work, including "From Tools to Teammates" (2011, 140 citations) and "Building Appropriate Trust in Human-Robot Teams" (2013, 58 citations), helped establish the conceptual groundwork for understanding robots as social partners rather than mere instruments. This thread deepened with her highly cited investigations into trust repair in HRI (2018, 144 citations), addressing the critical question of how human-robot relationships can recover after failures. Phillips has also pushed boundaries in robot appearance research, systematically examining what makes robots seem human-like and revisiting the uncanny valley phenomenon across real-world platforms. Complementing this, her innovative work on virtual and mixed reality interfaces — including the widely adopted ROS Reality framework (108 citations) — has advanced how operators intuitively program and control robots. Her research uniquely bridges cognitive science, design, and engineering, making her an essential voice in shaping the future of human-robot collaboration.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

21
H-Index
61
Papers
1,814
Total Citations
30
Avg Citations/Paper
🏆 Most Cited Paper
What is Human-like?
226 citations · 2018
📈 Most Prolific Year: 2020 (9 Papers)
🤝 Key Collaborators: 117
🏛 Institutions: Brown University, University of Central Florida, Providence College, John Brown University, George Mason University, United States Air Force Academy

Top Papers

  1. 1
    What is Human-like?
    226 citations · 2018
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    From Tools to Teammates
    140 citations · 2011
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Key Collaborators

Contact & Links

Available for collaboration
Content generated · 33 days ago