Jan Kolkmeier

About

Jan Kolkmeier is a researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction, social robotics, and non-verbal communication. Their work explores how robots can navigate and communicate within human social spaces, focusing on the dynamics of group interactions and the subtle cues that shape trust and understanding. A key contribution is their study on social positioning patterns in group-robot interactions (2015, 23 citations), which generated hypotheses for how mobile robots should orient themselves when engaging with small groups, accounting for temporal dynamics. Kolkmeier also investigates robot error recovery, notably in their 2025 paper on how robots can apologize and learn from mistakes to restore trust after navigation errors. Beyond functional interaction, they have explored novel communication modalities, including a shape-changing robot called "Goo-y" (2025) for fast, non-anthropomorphic signaling, and a robotic pillow named "Snoozle" (2017) designed to help users maintain consistent bedtimes. This diverse portfolio demonstrates a commitment to making robots more socially aware, trustworthy, and intuitively communicative in everyday environments.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Dynamics of social positioning patterns in group-robot interactions

   23 citations · 2015
2. 2
   Being Sorry is the Hardest Thing: How Robots can Apologize and Learn from Mistakes to Restore People's Trust

   2 citations · 2025
3. 3
   Snoozle -- A Robotic Pillow That Helps You Go to Sleep

   2 citations · 2017
4. 4
   Goo-y: A Robot's Shape-Changing Capability for Fast, Non-Anthropomorphic Communication with People (and Animals)

   1 citations · 2025

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links