I am Connor Esterwood, a researcher who studies human-robot interaction, trust, and trust repair.

:: Research Objective ::

** To understand the human, the non-human, and how to right a wrong. **

Humans and robots have been increasingly working alongside each other. In this work, humans and robots begin to form teams where the interactions between these agents resemble that of human-human interactions as opposed to human-tool interactions.

Due to this change, trust is increasingly important as trust is vital for effective teamwork.

Robots are imperfect, however, and no matter how well designed will inevitably make mistakes. When mistakes happen, humans see robots as less trustworthy and their trust in robots decreases drastically.

As a result I focus of my present research around how robots can repair trust, when it is effective, and if the same strategies used by humans are as effective when used by robots. 

Pronouns

He/Him/His

Areas of interest

Trust Repair With Robots.
Personality & Robots.
Self-Driving Vehicles.
Manned-Unmanned Teaming (Human-Robot Teams).

Education

Masters in Information - University of Tennessee, Knoxville