Frank Kaptein
Papers
6
Total Citations
145
H-Index
6
About
Frank Kaptein is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction, specializing in socio-cognitive engineering and long-term child-robot partnerships for health support. His work centers on making robotic agents transparent, trustworthy, and effective through personalized explanations and cloud-based architectures. Kaptein’s most impactful contribution is the development of the PAL project, where he engineered a Nao robot and its avatar to help children aged 8–14 manage Type 1 diabetes. By implementing belief-desire-intention (BDI) models, he enabled robots to self-explain their actions using goals, beliefs, and even emotions—a breakthrough that significantly improved user trust and engagement. His 2017 paper on personalized self-explanation (52 citations) and his 2019 socio-cognitive engineering framework (51 citations) are foundational, demonstrating how robots can adapt explanations for children versus adults. Kaptein also pioneered cloud-based robot control for long-term interaction (2021, 22 citations), addressing one of HRI’s greatest challenges: sustaining meaningful relationships over time. His work has profound implications for e-health, education, and autonomous systems, proving that cognitive agents can serve as compassionate, intelligent partners in real-world, high-stakes environments.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 6Self-explanations of a cognitive agent by citing goals and emotions6 citations · 2017