Photo of Hannah Pelikan

Hannah Pelikan

Assistant Professor

My research combines human-robot interaction and ethnomethodologic interaction design

Interacting with mobile autonomous systems

I take an ethnomethodology and conversation analysis (EMCA) perspective on human-robot interaction to study robots in everyday interaction.

My current work studies robots in public and I am particularly interested in the human wrangling work that makes robots (appear as) autonomous. I draw on a background in ethnomethodology and conversation analysis, human-computer interaction and cognitive science to contribute an empirical understanding of how people interact with robots in everyday interaction. I draw on video recordings for analytical purposes and to develop methods for designing human-centered robots. My work advances interactional and embodied theories of human sociality and artificial intelligence.

Prior to my current position, I was a postdoctoral fellow in the WASP-HS AI in Motion project led by Barry Brown (Copenhagen/Stockholm) and Mathias Broth (Linköping), and a visiting researcher at the University of Nottingham (2025) where I collaborated with Stuart Reeves through a RAi UK international partnership. I graduated with a PhD in Language and Culture from Linköping University advised by Leelo Keevallik and Mathias Broth and I have been affiliated with Malte Jung’s Robots in Groups lab at Cornell University through multiple research visits. I hold a Dutch engineering degree in Interaction Technology from the University of Twente in the Netherlands and a bachelor’s degree in Cognitive Science from Osnabrück University, Germany.

Research Interests

  • Robots in public
  • Embodiment and Multimodality
  • Interaction design
  • Sound design

News

Research

Publications

2026

Barry Brown, Hannah Pelikan, Mathias Broth (2026) Walking with robots: Video analysis of human-robot interactions in transit spaces Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Conference paper) https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791828
Sofia Thunberg, Mafalda Gamboa, Meagan B. Loerakker, Patricia Alves-Oliveira, Hannah R. M. Pelikan (2026) Unpacking Lived Experiences of Wizards of Oz Companion Proceedings of the 21st ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, p. 1399-1401 (Conference paper) https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3776734.3788834
Ilaria Torre, Maria Teresa Parreira, Hannah Pelikan, Erik Lagerstedt, Sarah Schömbs, Katie Winkle, Sara Ljungblad (2026) Sustainable Human-Robot Interaction: From Current Trends to Future Visions Social Robotics + AI, p. 484-499 (Conference paper) https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-95-2398-6_33
Hannah Pelikan, Karin Stendahl, Franziska Babel, Ola Johansson, Erik Frisk (2026) Designing for Public HRI: Reflections on an Iterative Robot Sound and Motion Design Process Companion Proceedings of the 21st ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, p. 31-35 (Conference paper) https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3776734.3794349
Marco C. Rozendaal, Anastasia Kouvaras Ostrowski, Mafalda Gamboa, Samantha Reig, Patricia Alves-Oliveira, Maaike Bleeker, Maria Luce Lupetti, John Vines, Nazli Cila, Hannah Pelikan, Nikolas Martelaro, Selma Šabanović, David Sirkin, Cristina Zaga (2026) 3rd Workshop on Designerly HRI: Articulating the Value of Design Research for HRI Companion Proceedings of the 21st ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, p. 1402-1404 (Conference paper) https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3776734.3788835

Education

Teaching

If you are a student in cognitive science or product design interested in working with me, please check my current projects for inspiration. I generally supervise user studies and interaction design projects. My main focus is on qualitative methods such as interaction analysis and ethnography as well as human-centered design. I have also supervised a number of survey and interview studies over the years.

I teach in the following courses:

Google Scholar

Visit my profile on Google Scholar for more details on my publications. 

Website

Visit my website for more information about my research.

Organisation