Qin En Looi

Institute for Infocomm Research, Hwa Chong Institution, Bergen Catholic High School

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Qin En Looi is a researcher whose work lies at the intersection of social robotics and human-robot interaction, with a particular focus on the subtleties of polite dialogue. Looi’s core contributions explore how conversational guidelines—specifically Gricean maxims and politeness maxims—can be adapted to make social robots more natural and socially acceptable communication partners. In his most-cited work, “Applying politeness maxims in social robotics polite dialogue” (15 citations), Looi argues that politeness maxims offer a more suitable framework than Gricean maxims for designing robot dialogue, a key insight for improving user experience in everyday human-robot encounters. Earlier, his 2011 study on Gricean maxims laid the groundwork for this shift, while his 2009 paper on video-enhanced diary methods in social gaming demonstrates a broader interest in understanding human-computer interaction through qualitative, user-centered approaches. Though his citation counts are modest, Looi’s work is notable for bridging pragmatic linguistics and robotics, offering practical design principles that inform how robots can engage in more courteous, context-aware conversations—a critical step toward their integration into homes and public spaces.