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About

Yeow Kee Tan is a robotics and human-robot interaction researcher whose work sits at the intersection of social robotics, computer vision, and assistive technology. With a career spanning over a decade, Tan has made meaningful contributions to how robots perceive, interact with, and serve human populations in real-world environments. His most cited work, "Towards an Effective Design of Social Robots" (2011, 56 citations), laid important groundwork for principled robot design, while his exploration of gender stereotypes in robot acceptance (2013, 47 citations) revealed how deeply human psychology shapes technology adoption. On the technical side, Tan developed robust multiperson detection and tracking systems using novel maximum likelihood algorithms, enabling mobile robots to navigate complex public environments with greater reliability (2012, 31 citations). Tan has also demonstrated a consistent commitment to socially meaningful applications. His studies on using social robots to support autistic children in developing joint attention and play skills reflect a humanistic dimension to his engineering work. Additional contributions span pet robot evaluation, expressive screen-based feedback systems, and practical deployments like the FusionBot barista robot. Collectively accumulating over 200 citations, Tan's research offers both technical innovation and genuine societal relevance for students exploring the future of human-centered robotics.