Luke Hickton
Papers
2
Total Citations
5
H-Index
2
About
Luke Hickton explores the frontiers of human-robot interaction, focusing on how non-humanoid machines can communicate emotion and influence human behavior. His research centers on affective robotics, kinesic expression, and biologically inspired control architectures. Hickton’s most influential work, “A Flexible Component-Based Robot Control Architecture for Hormonal Modulation of Behaviour and Affect” (2017, 3 citations), introduces a novel framework that enables robots to dynamically adjust their behavior and emotional expression using hormone-inspired modulation—a key step toward more adaptive, lifelike machines. In “Does Expression of Grounded Affect in a Hexapod Robot Elicit More Prosocial Responses?” (2020, 2 citations), he demonstrates that even simple, grounded affective displays in a hexapod robot can significantly increase prosocial behavior in human participants, with experiments involving up to 180 subjects. This work challenges assumptions that only humanoid robots can effectively communicate emotion, opening new possibilities for affective design in diverse robotic forms. Hickton’s contributions are shaping how we think about robot embodiment, emotional transparency, and the subtle ways machines can connect with us.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 2