Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Yifei Zhu is a rising scholar at the intersection of human-robot interaction (HRI), social justice, and augmented reality (AR). Their research is driven by a commitment to making robotics more equitable and accessible, as exemplified by their landmark work, "Robots for Social Justice (R4SJ): Toward a More Equitable Practice of Human-Robot Interaction" (2024, 17 citations). This framework, grounded in Engineering for Social Justice, provides a critical lens for designing HRI systems that actively address societal inequities, complementing existing technical guidelines. Zhu also pioneers the use of AR to enhance robot communication. In "Crossing Reality: Comparing Physical and Virtual Robot Deixis" (2023, 12 citations), they demonstrated how AR can enable physically limited robots to perform powerful nonverbal gestures, expanding robots' expressive capabilities. Further advancing this frontier, their 2024 work on "Designing Augmented Reality Robot Guidance Interactions" uses the metaphors of re-embodiment and telepresence to allow robots to provide remote, on-the-fly instruction. By blending critical theory with cutting-edge AR interaction design, Zhu is forging a path toward a more just and capable robotic future, where technology serves not just efficiency, but equity.