Katharina Weitz
Papers
6
Total Citations
92
H-Index
5
About
Katharina Weitz is a human-robot interaction researcher whose work sits at the intersection of social robotics, trust, and nonverbal communication. Her research primarily explores how robots can behave in socially appropriate, human-centered ways — spanning proxemic awareness, voice design, and failure management in collaborative settings. Weitz has made notable contributions to understanding how robots can repair trust following errors. Her 2021 paper on mistake explanation strategies (31 citations) investigates whether and how robots can restore human confidence after failures, a critical concern as robots enter industrial workplaces. Complementing this, her 2024 framework for cobot failure management offers practical guidance for designing more resilient human-robot collaboration systems. Her work on robot proxemics examines how physical positioning and spatial awareness shape first impressions and social acceptability, including nuanced scenarios such as navigating between conversing people and responding to users' emotional states. Her 2019 study on proxemic-aware robots during introductions (30 citations) highlights the importance of nonverbal behavior in establishing rapport. Most recently, Weitz has explored voice design for robots, developing human-in-the-loop methods to align vocal characteristics with robot appearance. Across her body of work, she consistently bridges technical robotics challenges with deeply human social dynamics.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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