Dear Colleagues,

Robots have been defined as physically embodied technologies that can intelligently perceive, think and respond to its environment. Interaction with robots is distinct from other artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies. Robots have a physical body that allows them to manifest their presence and actions in their physical environment. Humans cannot only talk to robots but also touch and be touched by robots. This distinguishes interactions with robots from disembodied AI agents, such as voice agents like Siri by Apple and Alexa by Amazon. Therefore, human robot interactions pose new and interesting questions to scholars in various fields such as information and computer science, robotics, psychology, sociology and engineering.

As robots become increasingly intelligent they are rapidly being employed in both private and public spaces. This proliferation is leading to human‒robot interactions across such diverse settings as the home, workplace, and public spaces. In the home, robots are performing household chores, baby sitting and acting as elderly companions. At work, robots are taking on traditional human jobs in logistics, transportation, and manufacturing. In public spaces, robots are also being utilized as tour guides, janitors, and security officers in museums and airports.

This special issue aims to enhance our understanding of intelligent human‒robot interactions to deal effectively with the emerging challenges and opportunities. This special issue seeks submissions that draw upon and contribute to the existing knowledge on human robot interactions, while acknowledging the disruptive potential of advances in robotics. This special issue encourages submission that will either significantly build and/or challenge existing research on human‒robot interactions.

This special issue seeks submissions from a diverse range of HRI topics. The special issue welcomes papers that explore human‒robot interactions at any level (i.e. individual, team, organizational, and societal). This also includes submissions that examine many facets of interactions in any context (e.g., homes, work, and public services) and role (e.g., companion, co-worker, boss, and adversary). Submissions to the special issue can also include empirical studies and conceptual frameworks which seek to advance our knowledge of the topic.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Theoretical frameworks for human‒robot interaction
• Empirical studies examining the social aspects of human‒robot interactions
• Case studies of human‒robot interaction
• Design implications for robot interactions at home, work and public spaces
• New methodological approaches to studying human‒robot interactions
• Promoting cooperative and collaborative interaction with robots
• Examining uncooperative and adversarial human interactions with robots
• The impact of haptic feedback and touch on human‒robot interaction
• The ethics of human‒robot interactions
• Application of Immersive Virtual Environments in the study human‒robot interaction

Dr. Lionel P. Robert Jr.
Dr. Sangseok You
Dr. Vineet Kamat
Dr. SangHyun Lee
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• autonomous systems
• automotive vehicles
• brain robot interface
• cobots
• cognitive workload in human robot teams
• collaborative robotics
• healthcare robots
• human robot interaction
• human robot collaboration
• human computer interaction
• human robot interaction modality
• human robot teams
• future of work
• mixed-reality human robot interfaces
• personal robots
• physical embodiment
• robot emotions
• social robots
• virtual, augmented and mixed reality for human robot interaction