Hideaki Ogawa

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About

Hideaki Ogawa is a researcher whose work bridges tangible interaction, telecommunication, and human-robot interaction. He is best known for pioneering the concept of “SmallConnection” (2005), a tangible media system designed to enable intimate, tool-like communication between distant loved ones. This foundational work, garnering 14 citations, introduced a novel approach to conveying subtle, emotional information over networks—shifting focus from data-rich interfaces to minimal, evocative interactions. Ogawa’s impact extends into social robotics, where his field experiments with the android Telenoid (2013, 9 and 6 citations) revealed a compelling insight: introducing a robot as a fictional character—through storytelling—significantly boosts users’ perceived usefulness and adoption intention. This work, involving 75 participants, demonstrates how narrative framing can transform a telecommunication robot from a mere tool into a relatable social actor. Ogawa’s contributions lie at the intersection of design, psychology, and engineering, offering practical strategies for making remote communication more human and emotionally resonant. His research continues to inspire designers and engineers working on empathetic, low-bandwidth interfaces and socially engaging robots.