Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) · Robotics · AI · Augmented Reality (AR)


Developing capable robotic systems & understandable robot interactions


*Shown is a mobile manipulation testbed to evaluate my research

Zhao Han

Meet Zhao Han

he/him · /’jau̇-‘hän/ · 韩昭


Zhao Han is an incoming Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Florida, joining the faculty in August 2023. He is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Colorado School of Mines.


His research lies broadly in human-robot interaction (HRI), robotics, AI, and augmented reality (AR). He focuses on designing, developing, and evaluating novel robotic systems and interactions, for embodied robots to be more capable and understandable while interacting and collaborating with humans.

To advance this work, Dr. Han takes an interdisciplinary and human-centered approach, developing broad expertise in explainable AI (robot explanations) for trust, projector-based and head-worn AR for communication, mobile manipulation for real-world evaluation, cognitive status-informed references, robot failures for robustness, and more.

Still in his early career, Dr. Han has already published 30 peer-reviewed papers, collaborating across universities like CMU and fields like Psychology. He received the best long-paper award at INLG 2022, the best late-breaking report third prize at HRI 2022, and a best late-breaking report nominee at HRI 2023. He also led teams to win multiple robot competitions.

He believes service is beneficial to academic life and society, fostering friendship, collaboration, and communities. Dr. Zhao Han is a Publications Chair of HRI 2024, a Program Committee (PC) member of HRI 2023, and a General Co-Chair of the 2022 AI-HRI symposium. He has also co-organized multiple workshops and chaired paper sessions.

Recognized with a university-wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Award, Dr. Han takes action on DEI. He founded Mines Asian Community Alliance and co-organized the Inclusive HRI Workshop. He is also active in outreach to engage under-represented groups.

With a strong DEI component, Dr. Han’s Augmented Reality course was rated 4.72/5.0, confirming his real-world and student-focused approach. He has also mentored 27 students, including 13 underrepresented, 12 female, and four graduate students.

Dr. Han holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UMass Lowell, advised by AAAI Fellow Dr. Holly Yanco. Previously, he received his M.S. and B.S. degrees in Computer Science from the University of Manitoba in Canada.

Multiple fully funded Ph.D. positions are available →

His Research


Human grasp effort is detected and the participant took the object with ease

Human-Robot Interaction
(HRI)

crop 0 0 856 1142 0 fetch large gear

Robotics

crop 0 0 1492 1765 0 Robot Failure Explanation Algorithm with Behavior Trees

Artificial Intelligence
(AI)

nav path to

Augmented Reality
(AR)


Recent Publications


Evaluating Cognitive Status-Informed Referring Form Selection for Human-Robot Interactions
Zhao Han and Tom Williams

Evaluating Cognitive Status-Informed Referring Form Selection for Human-Robot Interactions

CogSci 2023
Inclusive HRI II: Equity and Diversity in Design, Application, Methods, and Community
Ana Tanevska, Shruti Chandra, Giulia Barbareschi, Amy Eguchi, Zhao Han, Raj Korpan, Anastasia K. Ostrowski, Giulia Perugia, Sindhu Ravindranath, Katie Seaborn, Katie Winkle

Inclusive HRI II: Equity and Diversity in Design, Application, Methods, and Community

HRI 2023 Workshop Abstract
Communicating Missing Causal Information to Explain a Robot’s Past Behavior
Zhao Han and Holly A. Yanco

Communicating Missing Causal Information to Explain a Robot’s Past Behavior

THRI, 2023
Best of Both Worlds? Combining Different Forms of Mixed Reality Deictic Gestures
Landon Brown*, Jared Hamilton*, Zhao Han*†, Albert Phan*, Thao Phung*, Eric Hansen, Nhan Tran, and Tom Williams

Best of Both Worlds? Combining Different Forms of Mixed Reality Deictic Gestures

THRI, 2023
Towards Improved Replicability of Human Studies in Human-Robot Interaction: Recommendations for Formalized Reporting
Shelly Bagchi*, Patrick Holthaus, Gloria Beraldo, Emmanuel Senft, Daniel Hernández García, Zhao Han, Suresh Kumaar Jayaraman, Alessandra Rossi, Connor Esterwood, Antonio Andriella, and Paul Pridham

Towards Improved Replicability of Human Studies in Human-Robot Interaction: Recommendations for Formalized Reporting

HRI 2023 LBR
Crossing Reality: Comparing Physical and Virtual Robot Deixis
Zhao Han*, Yifei Zhu*, Albert Phan, Fernando Sandoval Garza, Amia Castro, Tom Williams

Crossing Reality: Comparing Physical and Virtual Robot Deixis

HRI 2023

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