Advanced Robotics

Robot and Human Interactive Communication

Guest Editors (Continued from the upper column):

Prof. Anara Sandygulova, Nazarbayev University, Kazakstan

          Dr. Gabriele Trovato, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan

Dr. Maartje DeGraaf, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Dr. Shruti Chandra, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada

Dr. Andy Elliot Ricci, Bates College, USA

Dr. Masahiro Shiomi, Interaction Science Laboratories ATR, Japan

Prof. Silvia Rossi, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy

Dr. Yuan Feng, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China

Dr. Barbara Bruno, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany

Prof. Astrid Rosenthal von Der Pütten, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

The main purpose of this special issue is to publish state-of-the-art research outcomes, recent advances, and future perspectives relating to robot and human interactive communication. Based on this aim, the special issue is open to all thematic areas related to human-robot interaction. It will also carry revised and substantially extended versions[1] of selected papers presented at the main conference and workshops of the 34th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 2025).

Under the theme “Shaping our hybrid future with robots together,” the special issue will cover a broad range of topics toward realizing a society where humans and robots coexist and collaborate. It includes theories, methodologies, technologies, empirical and experimental studies, as well as research related to robotics, psychology, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, human factors, ethics and policy, and interaction-based robot design. Topics of the special issue include, but are not limited to:

•    Applications of Social Robots

•    Assistive Robotics

•    Cognitive and Sensorimotor Development

•    Cognitive Skills and Mental Models

•    Computational Architectures

•    Cooperation and Collaboration in Human-Robot Teams

•    Creating Human-Robot Relationships

•    Curiosity, Intentionality and Initiative in Interaction

•    Degrees of Autonomy and Teleoperation

•    Detecting and Understanding Human Activity

•    Embodiment, Empathy and Intersubjectivity

•    Ethical Issues in Human-robot Interaction Research

•    Evaluation Methods and New Methodologies

•    Haptic Interaction Design

•    HRI and Collaboration in Manufacturing Environments

•    HRI for Sustainability

•    Innovative Robot Designs

•    Interaction Kinesics

•    Interaction with Believable Characters

•    Linguistic Communication and Dialogue

•    Long-term Experience and Longitudinal HRI Studies

•    Machine Learning and Adaptation

•    Monitoring of Behaviour and Internal States of Humans

•    Motion Planning and Navigation in Human-Centered Environments

•    Motivations and Emotions in Robotics

•    Multimodal Interaction and Conversational Skills

•    Multi-modal Situation Awareness and Spatial Cognition

•    Narrative and Story-telling in Interaction

•    Non-verbal Cues and Expressiveness

•    Novel Interfaces and Interaction Modalities

•    Personalities for Robotic or Virtual Characters

•    Philosophical Issues in Human-Robot Coexistence

•    Robot Companions and Social Robots

•    Robots in Education, Therapy and Rehabilitation, Medical and Surgical Applications

•    Robots in art and entertainment, and Art pieces supported by robotics

•    Robot Perception for Interaction and Communication such as Robot Audition, Robot Vision, etc.

•    Robotic Etiquette

•    Social Intelligence for Robots

•    Social Learning and Skill Acquisition Via Teaching, Imitation, and demonstration

•    Social Presence for Robots and Virtual Humans

•    Soft and Compliant Robot Design

•    Sound Design for Robots

•    Story-telling in HRI

•    Trust, Transparency, and Explainability in HRI

•    User-centered Design of Robots

•    Virtual and Augmented Tele-presence Environments for robots and humans