Publications

This paper provides a foundation for further study into social presence in HRI, by clarifying mechanisms of quantifying and experimentally manipulating social presence, allowing insight into ways in which this factor drives HRI. Konrad, S., Gamage, B., Herath, D., & Grant, J. B. (2025, March). Are Robots Social Beings? Exploring Embodiment and Social Presence in…

This paper presents Capabilities2, an advanced skill-based control framework for human-robot interaction (HRI) in ROS2. Capabilities2 enables robots to perform complex tasks by defining and managing skills, which are modular units of functionality. The framework facilitates interoperability, communication, and service management between different components of the robot system, enhancing the robot’s ability to interact effectively…

In this paper, we survey the field of affective robotics, focusing on bodily expressed emotion—both recognising affect through human body movements and postures, and generating robotic movement that is perceived as emotional by human observers. We frame this examination through the lens of the performing arts, drawing on an art-inspired case study alongside foundational background…

This paper introduces the initial phase of a dynamic SP framework, emphasizing context identification. Psychological research links contextual awareness to improved interactions, fostering empathy and adaptability. Applying this to HRI may enhance comfort and support by mirroring social dynamics. Accurate context identification is crucial, as it directly enables effective SP modulation. N. H. Wijesinghe, M.…

Organic waste management is a crucial component of a circular economy, which prioritizes reducing waste through the reuse and recycling of products and materials. It is a tedious and complicated task, largely accomplished through manual labor. We introduce a novel ‘in-the-wild’ multimodal image dataset of 15-band NIR multi-spectral and single band thermal images of bulk…

This large sample study used exposure to a humanoid social robot to investigate the relationship between affinity with technology, social presence and future intention to use the robot. Konrad, S., Wijesinghe, N., Roesler, E., & Busby Grant, J. (2026, March). From Affinity to Adoption: Exploring Affinity with Technology, Social Presence, and Intended Future Robot Use.…

In this paper, we present a novel framework for robotic attention modulation that enables dynamic regulation between attention-seeking and attention-avoidance behaviours through gaze feedback. For this feedback, we incorporate SGE with gaze fixation counts to create a metric that evaluates not just the quantity but also the quality of visual attention. Our approach implements two…