Ilhan Aslan

About

Ilhan Aslan is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction, specializing in how social robots can perceive, adapt to, and express human-like social and emotional cues. His work centers on making robot behavior more intuitive and engaging, with key contributions in adaptive humor, non-verbal communication, and proxemic awareness. Aslan’s most cited paper (81 citations) introduces a reinforcement learning framework that enables robots to shape their humor to match a user’s, fostering bonding through shared laughter. He also pioneered personalized synthesis of intentional and emotional non-verbal sounds for robots (34 citations), allowing machines to convey internal states without expert programming. His study on proxemic-aware robots (30 citations) demonstrates how spatial behavior shapes first impressions, a critical insight for deployment in homes and healthcare. Notable projects include “Drink-O-Mender,” a robot assistant for nutrition tracking, and “Irony Man,” which explores ironic multimodal communication. Aslan’s work bridges technical innovation and social psychology, advancing robots that are not just functional but genuinely relatable companions.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   How to Shape the Humor of a Robot - Social Behavior Adaptation Based on Reinforcement Learning

   81 citations · 2018
2. 2
   Personalized Synthesis of Intentional and Emotional Non-Verbal Sounds for Social Robots

   34 citations · 2019
3. 3
   Let Me Show You Your New Home: Studying the Effect of Proxemic-awareness of Robots on Users’ First Impressions

   30 citations · 2019
4. 4
   Drink-O-Mender

   27 citations · 2018
5. 5
   Irony Man: Augmenting a Social Robot with the Ability to Use Irony in Multimodal Communication with Humans

   16 citations · 2019
6. 6
   LeapArm-Facilitating Sensory Spaces for Mid-air Gestural Interaction

   2 citations · 2016

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links