Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Hayley Hung is a leading researcher in social robotics and computer vision, whose work bridges the gap between autonomous systems and human social dynamics. Her most impactful contribution is the development of SPENCER, a socially aware service robot designed for passenger guidance in busy airports—a landmark project that has garnered over 260 citations and demonstrated how robots can navigate crowded, complex environments by respecting human social norms. Hung’s core research focuses on detecting and modeling conversational groups, or F-formations, using robust game-theoretic approaches. Her pioneering papers on this topic, each cited over 50 times, have provided foundational methods for understanding how people naturally form groups in public spaces, enabling robots and intelligent systems to interpret social scenes more accurately. Beyond group detection, Hung has explored the challenging domain of computational deception and noncooperation, highlighting the importance of modeling deceptive behaviors in intelligent agents, robots, and serious games for training and security applications. Her work has profound implications for human-robot interaction, surveillance, and social scene understanding, establishing her as a key figure in creating machines that can perceive and participate in our social world.