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About

Julia Berger is a researcher at the forefront of social robotics, with a primary focus on human-robot interaction (HRI) in both industrial and caregiving contexts. Her work investigates the critical psychological and contextual factors that influence how humans perceive and collaborate with robots. Her most-cited paper, "Personal Space in Human-Robot Interaction at Work" (2022, 17 citations), is a seminal literature review that identifies a key research gap: the impact of environmental factors like room size and cognitive load on personal space preferences. This work bridges psychological theories of interpersonal distancing with robotic design, laying the groundwork for more intuitive and comfortable human-robot workspaces. Berger has also pioneered the concept of emotion-driven HRI for nursing care (2024), proposing systems that enable robots to recognize and respond to human emotional states, and has developed practical solutions for mobile industrial robots, such as situation-specific tutorials to resolve operational deadlocks (2025). Her research is notable for its dual focus on theoretical foundations and real-world application, from factory floors to care homes, making her a rising voice in creating robots that are not only functional but socially aware.