Papers
13
Total Citations
245
H-Index
8
About
Masashi Okubo is a pioneering researcher in the field of human-computer interaction, with a particular focus on speech-driven embodied systems, social robotics, and human communication support. His most celebrated contribution is the development of **InterActor**, a speech-driven embodied interactive actor capable of functioning as both speaker and listener, generating expressive, contextually coherent actions in response to speech input. First introduced around 2000–2003, this work accumulated over 114 citations in its most-cited form, establishing Okubo as a leading voice in lifelike interactive agent design. Okubo's broader research portfolio includes autonomous mobile robotics, where he developed online path-planning algorithms for nonholonomic wheeled robots, as well as physiological studies of human entrainment during face-to-face interaction using heart rate variability. His more recent work explores multi-robot interaction dynamics, investigating how touch behaviors and whispering voices between robots can attract and engage human users in information-providing contexts. Across his career, Okubo has consistently bridged the gap between speech science, robotics, and social interaction, demonstrating how machines can be designed to support and enrich natural human communication in meaningful, measurable ways.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1InterActor: Speech-Driven Embodied Interactive Actor114 citations · 2004
- 2InterActor: Speech-driven embodied interactive actor23 citations · 2003
- 3An Embodied Interaction Robots System Based on Speech20 citations · 2000
- 4An embodied interaction robots system based on speech18 citations · 2003
- 5An Embodied Interaction Robots System Based on Speech.11 citations · 2000
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