Kuva: Md.Nazmus Saqib
In her doctoral dissertation, M.Sc. Aparajita Chowdhury explores how people understand and work alongside robots that do not look or behave like humans robots in hospitals, factories, and logistics environments. Her research reveals that workers often struggle to interpret what these machines are about to do. These robots lack faces, voices, or familiar human-like cues and people can misread their movements, hesitate to act, or feel unsafe in shared spaces. Small design details, such as light signals and movement pauses, can significantly influence how workers perceive robot intentions. Chowdhury's dissertation introduces four new robot personality traits—Prism, Pulse, Vector, and Echo—which help translate robotic behaviours into relatable patterns, fostering clearer communication, increased trust, and more effective collaboration between humans and robots.
The doctoral dissertation of Msc. Aparajita Chowdhury in the field of Human-Technology Interaction titled User Experience and Interaction Design for Non‑Anthropomorphic Robots in Work Contexts will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences at Tampere University, at 12 o’clock noon, on 20 March 2026.
The opponent will be Professor Ilona Buchem from the Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Germany. The custos will be Professor Kaisa Väänänen, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University.