Ilan Mandel

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Ilan Mandel is a pioneering researcher in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), specializing in the design and deployment of autonomous robots in public urban spaces. His work centers on exploratory prototyping and Wizard-of-Oz techniques to study emergent, real-world interactions between people and robots. Mandel’s major contributions include the development of "Fake It to Make It" (2021, 49 citations), a foundational opinion piece that establishes exploratory prototyping as critical for devising novel robot behaviors and eliciting human responses early in the design process. His impactful field studies, such as "Trash in Motion" (2024, 23 citations) and "Trash Barrel Robots in the City" (2023, 12 citations), involve deploying robotic trashcans in busy city squares like New York City, using video analysis to uncover movement-based practices and natural interaction patterns. These studies extend HRI research beyond controlled labs into messy, dynamic public environments. Mandel also contributed "PAPERINO" (2018, 11 citations), advancing Wizard-of-Oz techniques for expressive robot movement. His work has garnered over 95 citations, highlighting its influence on designing autonomous everyday objects that seamlessly integrate into urban life.