Mathias Broth

Papers

Total Citations

162

H-Index

About

Mathias Broth is a leading scholar in multimodal conversation analysis and human-robot interaction, whose work reveals the subtle, real-time dynamics of how people make sense of—and with—robots. His research centers on the intersection of social interaction, embodiment, and technology, with a particular focus on how humans adapt to and interpret robotic agents in natural settings. Broth’s most cited paper, “Why That Nao?” (2016, 84 citations), demonstrates how participants in a charade game quickly adjust their turn design—including word choice, prosody, and timing—when interacting with a conventional humanoid robot. In “Are You Sad, Cozmo?” (2020, 56 citations), he uses video recordings of families at home to show how people interpret robot emotional displays as sequentially relevant social actions. His more recent work, “When a Robot Comes to Life” (2022, 14 citations), advances a theoretical framework for understanding agency as an interactional achievement. Broth also co-organized the first workshop on Sound in HRI (2021), highlighting the underexplored role of robot sound in communication. His contributions are foundational for designing robots that can participate in the nuanced, embodied fabric of human social life.