Publications.

The Wizard-of-Oz (WoZ) technique is widely used in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research, but two persistent problems limit its effectiveness: existing tools impose technical barriers that exclude non-engineering domain experts (the Accessibility Problem), and the fragmented landscape of robot-specific implementations makes interaction scripts difficult to port across platforms (the Reproducibility Problem — concerning execution consistency and portability, not third-party replication). Through a literature review, I identified three design principles to address both: a hierarchical specification model, an event-driven execution model, and a plugin architecture that decouples experiment logic from robot-specific implementations. I realized these principles in HRIStudio, an open-source, web-based platform providing a visual experiment designer, a guided wizard execution interface, automated timestamped logging with deviation tracking, and role-based access control. I evaluated HRIStudio in a pilot between-subjects study (N=6) against Choregraphe, the standard programming tool for the NAO robot. HRIStudio wizards achieved higher design fidelity, execution reliability, and perceived usability across all six sessions; the only unprompted specification deviation in the dataset occurred in the Choregraphe condition. While the pilot scale precludes inferential claims, the directional evidence across all measures supports the position that a tool built to realize the identified design principles can have significant impact on accessibility and reproducibility in WoZ-based HRI research.

Human-robot interaction (HRI) research plays a pivotal role in shaping how robots communicate and collaborate with humans. However, conducting HRI studies can be challenging, particularly those employing the Wizard-of-Oz (WoZ) technique. WoZ user studies can have technical and methodological complexities that may render the results irreproducible. We propose to address these challenges with HRIStudio, a modular web-based platform designed to streamline the design, the execution, and the analysis of WoZ experiments. HRIStudio offers an intuitive interface for experiment creation, real-time control and monitoring during experimental runs, and comprehensive data logging and playback tools for analysis and reproducibility. By lowering technical barriers, promoting collaboration, and offering methodological guidelines, HRIStudio aims to make human-centered robotics research easier and empower researchers to develop scientifically rigorous user studies.

Human-robot interaction (HRI) research plays a pivotal role in shaping how robots communicate and collaborate with humans. However, conducting HRI studies, particularly those employing the Wizard-of-Oz (WoZ) technique, can be challenging. WoZ user studies can have complexities at the technical and methodological levels that may render the results irreproducible. We propose to address these challenges with HRIStudio, a novel web-based platform designed to streamline the design, execution, and analysis of WoZ experiments. HRIStudio offers an intuitive interface for experiment creation, real-time control and monitoring during experimental runs, and comprehensive data logging and playback tools for analysis and reproducibility. By lowering technical barriers, promoting collaboration, and offering methodological guidelines, HRIStudio aims to make human-centered robotics research easier, and at the same time, empower researchers to develop scientifically rigorous user studies.