Micala Bruce
Papers
1
Total Citations
20
H-Index
1
About
Micala Bruce is a leading researcher in human-robot interaction, best known for her groundbreaking work on the uncanny valley hypothesis—the phenomenon where robots that closely, but imperfectly, resemble humans evoke feelings of eeriness or discomfort. Her most-cited paper, "A Comprehensive Approach to Validating the Uncanny Valley using the Anthropomorphic RoBOT (ABOT) Database" (2020, 20 citations), provides a systematic, data-driven framework for testing this hypothesis. By leveraging the ABOT database, a large-scale collection of robot images, Bruce and her colleagues demonstrated how subtle variations in anthropomorphic design can predictably shift emotional responses from affinity to unease. This work has become a cornerstone for roboticists and designers aiming to create more socially acceptable machines. Beyond this, Bruce’s research has shaped best practices for evaluating user perceptions of humanoid robots, influencing fields from artificial intelligence to cognitive psychology. Her contributions have been widely cited in subsequent studies on robot aesthetics and trust, and she continues to explore how physical design impacts human-robot collaboration. Bruce’s rigorous empirical approach has made her a key voice in understanding the psychological boundaries of humanlike technology.
Research Focus
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Top Papers
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