Fanny Kobiela
Papers
1
Total Citations
37
H-Index
1
About
Fanny Kobiela is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction, with a primary focus on the spatial and social dynamics that govern safe and comfortable encounters between people and autonomous machines. Her foundational work, “'Hey robot, please step back!' – exploration of a spatial threshold of comfort for human-mechanoid spatial interaction in a hallway scenario,” has garnered 37 citations and remains a key reference in the field. In this study, Kobiela systematically investigated the personal space boundaries humans instinctively maintain when sharing narrow corridors with mobile robots, establishing critical design parameters for socially-aware navigation. Her research directly addresses the dual requirements for autonomous transport assistants in hospitals: ensuring high physical safety while simultaneously exhibiting behavior that humans perceive as natural and non-intrusive. By quantifying the "spatial threshold of comfort," Kobiela provided engineers with actionable data to program robots that can politely yield space, thereby reducing anxiety and improving acceptance in sensitive environments like healthcare facilities. Her work bridges experimental psychology and robotics, offering a human-centered framework that continues to influence the development of socially compliant machines.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
- 1