Thao Phung
Papers
8
Total Citations
144
H-Index
6
About
Thao Phung is a researcher at the forefront of human-robot interaction (HRI), specializing in the application of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VAM-HRI) technologies to enhance communication between humans and robots. Their most influential contribution, a comprehensive survey and virtual design element taxonomy on VAM-HRI, has garnered over 100 citations, establishing a much-needed shared terminology and framework for the research community — a foundational resource that continues to shape how scholars conceptualize mixed reality interfaces in robotics contexts. A recurring theme throughout Phung's work is expanding the communicative capabilities of physically limited robots, particularly armless systems. By developing and evaluating mixed reality deictic gestures — such as virtual arrows and ego-sensitive pointing cues — Phung has demonstrated that robots can achieve effective nonverbal communication without physical appendages. Studies including "Get This!?" and "Now Look Here!" provide empirical evidence that these mixed reality gestures reduce user response times and improve task performance without inducing cognitive overload. Their modeling of spatial gesture selection further contributes a principled framework for autonomous robot behavior. Across more than a dozen publications accumulating over 140 citations, Phung's research is meaningfully advancing how robots and humans collaborate in shared physical and virtual spaces.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 3What's The Point?8 citations · 2021
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- 7Robot-Generated Mixed Reality Gestures Improve Human-Robot Interaction4 citations · 2021
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