Papers
12
Total Citations
521
H-Index
9
About
Gale Lucas is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction (HRI) and virtual agents, with a focus on how social dynamics shape trust, rapport, and safety in collaborative teams. Her work bridges construction robotics and socially intelligent agents, demonstrating that effective HRI depends not only on technical performance but also on nuanced social dialogue. Lucas’s most influential paper, “Effectiveness of VR-based training on improving construction workers’ knowledge, skills, and safety behavior in robotic teleoperation” (202 citations), establishes virtual reality as a transformative tool for training workers to operate construction robots safely. She further explores how rapport-building with robots can mitigate conversational errors and support conflict mediation in high-stakes environments like military debriefing. With over 500 total citations, her contributions include a multidimensional taxonomy for construction HRI and a handbook chapter on rapport between humans and socially interactive agents. Lucas’s work is notable for its practical impact on safety and team cohesion, and her studies comparing construction workers and university students reveal critical differences in training effectiveness. Her research is essential reading for anyone designing robots that must earn human trust in real-world settings.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2
- 3Getting to Know Each Other57 citations · 2018
- 4
- 5A multidimensional taxonomy for human-robot interaction in construction45 citations · 2023
- 6Rapport Between Humans and Socially Interactive Agents31 citations · 2021
- 7
- 8The Role of Social Dialogue and Errors in Robots11 citations · 2017
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- 10