Roberto Bresin

About

Roberto Bresin is a leading researcher in the emerging field of sonic human-robot interaction (HRI), where he investigates how sound can make robots more expressive, communicative, and socially acceptable. His core contributions lie in designing and evaluating auditory displays—both the inherent mechanical noises of robots and deliberately crafted sonifications—to convey emotion, intent, and personality. Through a series of influential perceptual studies, Bresin has demonstrated that augmenting a robot’s consequential sounds (e.g., from a Nao or Pepper robot) can significantly improve non-verbal communication, with key papers accumulating over 80 citations. His work on "blended sonification" (2021) and "movement sonification" (2018) are foundational, showing how sound design can imbue robotic gestures with perceived emotional states like urgency or calm. Beyond basic research, Bresin has developed practical tools like PepperOSC to enable interactive sonification, and he has probed aesthetic strategies for robot sound, linking complexity and materiality to user perception. His interdisciplinary approach—merging robotics, music technology, and perceptual psychology—positions him as a pioneer in making robots not just seen, but heard.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Perceptual Evaluation of Blended Sonification of Mechanical Robot Sounds Produced by Emotionally Expressive Gestures: Augmenting Consequential Sounds to Improve Non-verbal Robot Communication

   25 citations · 2021
2. 2
   Perception Of Mechanical Sounds Inherent To Expressive Gestures Of A Nao Robot - Implications For Movement Sonification Of Humanoids

   21 citations · 2018
3. 3
   Sounding Robots: Design and Evaluation of Auditory Displays for Unintentional Human-robot Interaction

   8 citations · 2023
4. 4
   Communication of musical expression by means of mobile robot gestures

   8 citations · 2009
5. 5
   Probing Aesthetics Strategies for Robot Sound: Complexity and Materiality in Movement Sonification

   8 citations · 2023
6. 6
   Interactive sonification of a fluid dance movement: an exploratory study

   6 citations · 2018
7. 7
   Persuasive Polite Robots in Free-Standing Conversational Groups

   4 citations · 2023
8. 8
   Sonic Characteristics of Robots in Films

   4 citations · 2019
9. 9
   Hearing it Out: Guiding Robot Sound Design through Design Thinking

   3 citations · 2023
10. 10
    PepperOSC: enabling interactive sonification of a robot’s expressive movement

    3 citations · 2023

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links