Helena Kiilavuori
Papers
2
Total Citations
67
H-Index
2
About
Helena Kiilavuori is a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction, specializing in the psychophysiological underpinnings of social engagement with artificial agents. Her work bridges social neuroscience and robotics, exploring how humans respond to non-human entities in ways traditionally reserved for interpersonal encounters. Kiilavuori’s most influential study, “Making eye contact with a robot” (2020, 59 citations), demonstrated that eye contact with a humanoid robot elicits heightened affective and attentional psychophysiological responses—similar to those observed in human-human interaction. This finding challenges assumptions about the uniqueness of human social cues and has profound implications for designing socially adept robots. In her subsequent work, “Being watched by a humanoid robot and a human” (2022, 8 citations), she disentangled the effects of mere observation from active eye contact, revealing that the experience of being “watched” by a robot can evoke comparable arousal and affiliation responses. By integrating measures like skin conductance and heart rate, Kiilavuori provides rigorous, empirical evidence that robots can trigger genuine, embodied social reactions. Her research not only advances our understanding of human psychology but also informs the ethical and functional design of robots in caregiving, education, and collaborative settings.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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