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About

Franziska Kirstein is a pioneering robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of human-robot interaction, programming by demonstration, and social robotics. Her research focuses primarily on making robots accessible to non-expert users, exploring intuitive methods through which everyday people can teach robots new skills and behaviors. Kirstein's most influential contributions examine how different robot control paradigms — kinesthetic guidance, teleoperation, and external controls — affect the quality of programming by demonstration, work that has garnered nearly 100 citations across related publications. Her comparative studies of teleoperation methods, including data gloves versus object manipulation, have provided foundational insights into how interface design shapes the precision and naturalness of robot instruction. Her investigation into social gaze during human-robot collaborative assembly (32 citations) further demonstrates her commitment to understanding the nuanced social dynamics that emerge when humans and robots work side by side. Beyond laboratory research, Kirstein has made meaningful real-world impact through her work deploying social robots in Danish educational institutions and exploring cognitive digital automation frameworks. Her micro-analyses of timing in close human-robot collaboration reveal a sophisticated understanding of interactional dynamics. Collectively, her research has meaningfully advanced the field's understanding of how robots can be designed to integrate seamlessly into human environments and workflows.