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About

Sabrina C. Eimler is a prominent researcher specializing in human-robot interaction (HRI), social robotics, and the psychological dimensions of human relationships with artificial agents. Her work sits at a fascinating intersection of cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and human-computer interaction, exploring how people emotionally respond to and empathize with robots and virtual agents. Eimler's most influential contribution, "An Experimental Study on Emotional Reactions Towards a Robot" (2012, 308 citations), established foundational insights into how humans form emotional bonds with robotic entities. Complementing this, her pioneering fMRI research — including "Investigations on Empathy Towards Humans and Robots" (2014, 156 citations) — revealed the neural underpinnings of human empathy directed at robots, demonstrating that the brain activates similar emotional pathways whether witnessing suffering in humans or machines. Her theoretical contributions, particularly around companion frameworks for HRI, have helped shape how researchers conceptualize socially intelligent systems. Notably, her real-world fieldwork with elderly participants living alongside robot companions reflects a commitment to applied, human-centered research. More recently, her work on augmented communication in human-robot collaboration signals an evolving interest in industrial HRI contexts. Collectively, her research has profoundly advanced our understanding of what it means — psychologically and neurologically — to relate to artificial beings.