Societies rely on trustworthy communication in order to function, and the need for trust clearly
extends to human-machine communication. Therefore, it is essential to design machines to …

Research in both humans and monkeys has shown that even simple hand movements
require cortical control beyond primary sensorimotor areas. An extensive functional …

Trust is a critical issue in human-robot interactions (HRI) as it is the core of human desire to
accept and use a non-human agent. Theory of Mind (ToM) has been defined as the ability to …

We investigated the perceived credibility of statements made by robots, hypothesising that
people are more likely to believe robots with humanlike characteristics than those that are …

Technological advances have resulted in highly automated systems increasing in number
and popularity. However, the overarching issue continues to relate to how much autonomy to …

We explored how people establish cooperation with robotic peers, by giving participants the
chance to choose whether to cooperate or not with a more/less selfish robot, as well as a …

Theories on social learning indicate that imitative choices are usually performed whenever
copying the others' behaviour has no additional cost. Here, we extended such investigations …

Anthropomorphic projection can bring familiarity, confidence and simplicity to our interactions
with unknown agents showing a human-like resemblance or behaviour. This study …

Research in the field of psychology and cognitive neuroscience has begun to explore the
functional underpinnings of voluntary actions and how they differ from stimulus-driven actions. …

… Debora Zanatto Debora Zanatto is an honorary research associate at the University of
Bristol and a lead consultant at Deep Blue Srl. She has a PhD in Human-Robot Interaction (…