Sustainabot – a mini robot that draws using everyday materials

Professor Simon Robinson

Professor

Computer Science

s.n.w.robinson@swansea.ac.uk

Office - 116
First Floor
Computational Foundry
Bay Campus

Available For Postgraduate Supervision

Research Links

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9228-006X

Google Scholar

About

My research spans a wide range of technologies from self-powered devices to deformable displays to mobile interactions that allow people to immerse themselves in the places, people and events around them, rather than just being heads-down and consumed by the technology they use. A key theme of my work is a focus on devices and interactions designed with and for people who have historically been excluded or overlooked. I spend a significant proportion of my time working with communities worldwide to think about and create future-looking technologies that work better for all.

I lead Swansea University's HCI research group – the FIT Lab, and collaborate closely both at Swansea and beyond, working with colleagues at many institutions, ranging from University of Edinburgh to IIT Bombay to Microsoft Research Africa.

I believe strongly in open source software, and have created a large number of freely-available tools and apps. These range from the widely-used digital storytelling app Com-Phone Story Maker to the phone sharing platform Better Together, a range of tools to improve Canvas usability, and the popular email tool Email OAuth 2.0 Proxy (sponsored by Auth-Email). You can find out more about my research, funded projects and other work at my personal website – see simon.robinson.ac.

Areas Of Expertise

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Participatory Design and Co-creation
Conversational User Interfaces
Ubiquitous Computing
Deformable Devices
Internet of Things
Emergent Users
Low-attention and Mobile Interaction Design

Publications

Research Highlights

Reitmaier, T., Raju, D., Klejch, O., Wallington, E., Markl, N., Pearson, J., Jones, M., Bell, P., & Robinson, S. (2024). Cultivating Spoken Language Technologies for Unwritten Languages. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642026, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65595
Reed, M., Merkle, B., Cook, E., Hafferty, C., Hejnowicz, A., Holliman, R., Marder, I., Pool, U., Raymond, C., Wallen, K., Whyte, D., Ballesteros, M., Bhanbhro, S., Borota, S., Brennan, M., Carmen, E., Conway, E., Everett, R., Armstrong-Gibbs, F...., & Stroobant, M. (2024). Reimagining the language of engagement in a post-stakeholder world. Sustainability Science, 19(4), 1481-1490.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-024-01496-4, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65819
Ahmad, M., Alzahrani, A., Robinson, S., & Rahat, A. (2023). Modelling Human Trust in Robots During Repeated Interactions. In International Conference on Human-Agent InteractionACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3623809.3623892, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64046

All Research

Journal Articles

Jensen, E., Reed, M., Daybell, J., Rutt, L., Jensen, A., Arrigoni, G., Ballesteros, M., Bhanbhro, S., Merkle, B., Hafferty, C., Iglehart, P., Khuri, S., Klimczuk, A., Marder, I., Milosavljevic, D., Pacheco-Mendoza, J., Pool, U., Robinson, S., Stringer, L...., & Rodrigo, R. (2025). Responsible research impact: Ethics for making a difference. Open Research Europe, 5, 92
https://doi.org/10.12688/openreseurope.19649.1, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69402
Jones, M., Raju, D., Pearson, J., Reitmaier, T., Robinson, S., & Majhi, A. (2024). Beyond 'Slumming It'—AI and the Real Lives of Global South Communities. Interactions, 31(6), 20-27.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3696019, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68158
Reed, M., Merkle, B., Cook, E., Hafferty, C., Hejnowicz, A., Holliman, R., Marder, I., Pool, U., Raymond, C., Wallen, K., Whyte, D., Ballesteros, M., Bhanbhro, S., Borota, S., Brennan, M., Carmen, E., Conway, E., Everett, R., Armstrong-Gibbs, F...., & Stroobant, M. (2024). Reimagining the language of engagement in a post-stakeholder world. Sustainability Science, 19(4), 1481-1490.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-024-01496-4, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65819
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Jones, M., & Joshi, A. (2019). Diversifying Future-Making Through Itinerative Design. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 26(5), 1-21.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3341727, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa50583
Häkkilä, J., Bidwell, N., Cheverst, K., Colley, A., Kosmalla, F., Robinson, S., & Schöning, J. (2018). Reflections on the NatureCHI Workshop Series. International Journal of Mobile Human Computer Interaction, 10(3), 1-9.
https://doi.org/10.4018/IJMHCI.2018070101, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa40739
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., & Jones, M. (2017). BookMark: Appropriating existing infrastructure to facilitate scalable indoor navigation. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 103, 22-34.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.02.001, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa31507
Jones, M., Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Joshi, M., Raju, D., Mbogo, C., Wangari, S., Joshi, A., Cutrell, E., & Harper, R. (2017). Beyond “yesterday’s tomorrow”: future-focused mobile interaction design by and for emergent users. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 21(1), 157-171.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-016-0982-0, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa33847
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., & Jones, M. (2016). Exploring Low-Cost, Internet-Free Information Access for Resource-Constrained Communities. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 23(6), 1-34.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2990498, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa29624
Lucero, A., Clawson, J., Fischer, J., & Robinson, S. (2016). Mobile collocated interactions with wearables: past, present, and future. mUX: The Journal of Mobile User Experience, 5(1)
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13678-016-0008-x, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa35449
Betsworth, L., Bowen, H., Robinson, S., & Jones, M. (2014). Performative Technologies for Heritage Site Regeneration. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-014-0766-3, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17384
Bidwell, N., Siya, M., Marsden, G., Tucker, W., Tshemese, M., Gaven, N., Ntlangano, S., Robinson, S., & Eglinton, K. (2013). Walking and the Social Life of Solar Charging in Rural Africa. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 20(4), 1-33.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2509404.2493524, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17393
Robinson, S., Jones, M., Williamson, J., Murray-Smith, R., Lindborg, M., & Eslambolchilar, P. (2012). Navigation Your Way: From Spontaneous Independent Exploration to Dynamic Social Journeys. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 16(8), 973-985.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-011-0457-2, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17385
Wilson, M., Craggs, D., Robinson, S., Jones, M., & Brimble, K. (2012). Pico-ing into the Future of Mobile Projection and Contexts. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 16(1), 39-52.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-011-0376-2, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17386
Robinson, S., Eslambolchilar, P., & Jones, M. (2010). Exploring casual point-and-tilt interactions for mobile geo-blogging. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 14(4), 363
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-009-0236-5, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa140

Authored Books

Robinson, S., Marsden, G., & Jones, M. (2015). There’s Not an App for That Elsevier.
https://doi.org/10.1016/c2013-0-00032-1, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa54696

Book Chapters

Lublin, G., Robinson, S., & Rodriguez, M. (2023). El codiseño de la aplicación Orígenes como forma de resistencia: Un proyecto para “reconectar a las personas y sanar antiguas heridas”. In Claudia Hammerschmidt (Ed.), Patagonia literaria X - Resistencias poético-políticas desde el Sur INOLAS
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62094

Conference Contributions

Jain, P., Gatare, K., Sahoo, D., Hough, J., Robinson, S., Leon-Garza, H., Peña-Rios, A., Dix, A., & Maestre Avila, F. (2025). Understanding the Role of Supportive Tools in Repair: Exploring Repair as an Embodied Practice. In Proceedings of the 23rd EUSSET Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative WorkEuropean Society for Socially Embedded Technologies (EUSSET).
https://doi.org/10.48340/ecscw2025_pd06, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69999
https://dl.eusset.eu/items/5ed0a8ff-ff46-4b17-aa9f-5f04c9e68102
India, G., Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Morrison, C., & Jones, M. (2025). Exploring the Experiences of Individuals Who are Blind or Low-Vision Using Object-Recognition Technologies in India. In CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-11). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
https://doi.org/10.1145/3706598.3713107, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68876
Bailey, G., Seunarine, K., Baptista De Lima, C., Carnie, M., Haymoor, Z., Hyde, M., Jones, B., Jones, M., Pearson, J., Reitmaier, T., Robinson, S., Sahoo, D., & Williams, A. (2024). Older Generation: Self-Powered IoTs, Home-Life and “Ageing Well”. In NordiCHI '24: Proceedings of the 13th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 1-14). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3679318.3685410, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa67318
Reitmaier, T., Raju, D., Klejch, O., Wallington, E., Markl, N., Pearson, J., Jones, M., Bell, P., & Robinson, S. (2024). Cultivating Spoken Language Technologies for Unwritten Languages. In Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642026, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa65595
Ahmad, M., Alzahrani, A., Robinson, S., & Rahat, A. (2023). Modelling Human Trust in Robots During Repeated Interactions. In International Conference on Human-Agent InteractionACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3623809.3623892, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64046
Reitmaier, T., Wallington, E., Klejch, O., Markl, N., Lam-Yee-Mui, L., Pearson, J., Jones, M., Bell, P., & Robinson, S. (2023). Situating Automatic Speech Recognition Development within Communities of Under-heard Language Speakers. In ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: CHI' 23 (pp. 1-17). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581385, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62395
Lloyd-Roberts, B., James, P., Edwards, M., Robinson, S., James, P., & Werner, T. (2023). Improving Railway Safety: Human-in-the-loop Invariant Finding. In Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3544549.3573853, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62272
Alzahrani, A., Robinson, S., & Ahmad, M. (2022). Exploring Factors Affecting User Trust Across Different Human-Robot Interaction Settings and Cultures. In HAI '22 - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Human-Agent Interaction (pp. 123-131). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3527188.3561920, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa60811
Reitmaier, T., Wallington, E., Raju, D., Klejch, O., Pearson, J., Jones, M., Bell, P., Robinson, S., & Pearson, J. (2022). Opportunities and Challenges of Automatic Speech Recognition Systems for Low-Resource Language Speakers. In Simone Barbosa, Cliff Lampe, Caroline Appert, David A. Shamma, Steven Drucker, Julie Williamson, Koji Yatani (Ed.), CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '22), April 29–May 5, 2022, New Orleans, LA, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA (pp. 1-17). ACM Digital Library.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517639, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59573
Pearson, J., Bailey, G., Robinson, S., Jones, M., Owen, T., Zhang, C., Reitmaier, T., Steer, C., Carter, A., Sahoo, D., & Raju, D. (2022). Can’t Touch This: Rethinking Public Technology in a COVID-19 Era. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3501980, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa58866
Seunarine, K., Raju, D., Thomas, G., Thomas, S., Pockett, A., Reitmaier, T., Steer, C., Owen, T., Meena, Y., Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Carnie, M., Sahoo, D., & Jones, M. (2022). Light-In-Light-Out (Li-Lo) Displays: Harvesting and Manipulating Light to Provide Novel Forms of Communication. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New Orleans LA USA 29 April 2022- 5 May 2022 (pp. 1-15). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3491102.3517730, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59423
Pearson, J., Carter, A., Bailey, G., Pearson, J., Jones, M., Robinson, S., Raju, D., Winter, S., & Hicks, J. (2022). Designing and Embedding a Tangible Public Interface in the COVID Era. In CHI '22: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems ProceedingsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3491101.3503556, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa59464
Raju, D., Seunarine, K., Reitmaier, T., Thomas, G., Meena, Y., Zhang, C., Pockett, A., Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Carnie, M., Sahoo, D., & Jones, M. (2021). PV-Pix: Slum Community Co-design of Self-Powered Deformable Smart Messaging Materials. In Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3411764.3445661, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa55971
Zhang, C., Sahoo, D., Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Holton, M., Hopkins, P., & Jones, M. (2020). Active PinScreen: Exploring Spatio-Temporal Tactile Feedbackfor Multi-Finger Interaction. In 22nd International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and ServicesACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3379503.3403531, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa54578
Qamar, I., Stawarz, K., Robinson, S., Goguey, A., Coutrix, C., & Roudaut, A. (2020). Morphino: A nature-inspired tool for the design of shape-changing interfaces. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (pp. 1943-1958). ACM, DIS ’20, July 6–10, 2020, Eindhoven, Netherlands.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395453, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa54128
Meena, Y., Seunarine, K., Sahoo, D., Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Zhang, C., Carnie, M., Pockett, A., Prescott, A., Thomas, S., Lee, H., & Jones, M. (2020). PV-Tiles: Towards Closely-Coupled Photovoltaic and Digital Materials for Useful, Beautiful and Sustainable Interactive Surfaces. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376368, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa53149
Reitmaier, T., Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Raju, D., & Jones, M. (2020). An Honest Conversation: Transparently Combining Machine and Human Speech Assistance in Public Spaces. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376310, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa53150
Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Holton, M., Ahire, S., & Jones, M. (2019). Sustainabot – Exploring the Use of Everyday Foodstuffs as Output and Input for and with Emergent Users. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '19 (pp. 1-12). ACM Press.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300456, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48078
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Reitmaier, T., Jones, M., Ahire, S., Joshi, A., Sahoo, D., Maravi, N., & Bhikne, B. (2019). StreetWise: Smart Speakers vs Human Help in Public Slum Settings. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '19 (pp. 1-13). ACM Press.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300326, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48079
Goguey, A., Steer, C., Lucero, A., Nigay, L., Sahoo, D., Coutrix, C., Roudaut, A., Subramanian, S., Tokuda, Y., Neate, T., Pearson, J., Robinson, S., & Jones, M. (2019). PickCells. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300503, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48080
Goguey, A., Sahoo, D., Robinson, S., Pearson, J., & Jones, M. (2019). Pulp Friction: Exploring the Finger Pad Periphery for Subtle Haptic Feedback. In CHI '19: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-13). CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems Proceedings (CHI 2019),.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300871, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa48081
Steer, C., Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Sahoo, D., Mabbett, I., & Jones, M. (2018). A liquid tangible display for mobile colour mixing. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (pp. 1-7). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3229434.3229461, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa39869
Sahoo, D., Neate, T., Tokuda, Y., Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Subramanian, S., & Jones, M. (2018). Tangible Drops: A Visio-Tactile Display Using Actuated Liquid-Metal Droplets. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '18ACM Press.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173751, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa37588
Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Ahire, S., Ahirwar, R., Bhikne, B., Maravi, N., & Jones, M. (2018). Revisiting “Hole in the Wall” Computing: Private Smart Speakers and Public Slum Settings. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '18ACM Press.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174072, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa37589
Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Reitmaier, T., Ahire, S., & Jones, M. (2018). Make Yourself at Phone: Reimagining Mobile Interaction Architectures With Emergent Users. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '18ACM Press.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173981, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa37590
Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Jones, M., Joshi, A., & Ahire, S. (2017). Better Together: Disaggregating Mobile Services for Emergent Users. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and ServicesACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3098279.3098534, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa33712
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Jones, M., & Coutrix, C. (2017). Evaluating deformable devices with emergent users. In Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and ServicesACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3098279.3098555, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa33713
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Reitmaier, T., Jones, M., Joshi, A., Parab, C., Mogoi, F., & Jenson, S. (2017). Exploring the use of the Physical Web with Resource-Constrained Communities. In CHI EA '17 Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1117-1125). 2017 CHI Conference.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3053349, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa33714
Steer, C., Pearson, J., Robinson, S., & Jones, M. (2017). Deformable Paint Palette: Actuated Force Controls for Digital Painting. In CHI EA '17: Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing SystemsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3027063.3053219, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa39907
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Jones, M., Joshi, A., Ahire, S., Sahoo, D., & Subramanian, S. (2017). Chameleon Devices: Investigating More Secure and Discreet Mobile Interactions via Active Camouflaging. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025482, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa31512
Tokuda, Y., Moya, J., Memoli, G., Neate, T., Sahoo, D., Robinson, S., Pearson, J., Jones, M., & Subramanian, S. (2017). Programmable Liquid Matter: 2D Shape Deformation of Highly Conductive Liquid Metals in a Dynamic Electric Field. In ISS '17: Proceedings of the 2017 ACM International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and SpacesACM Press.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3132272.3134132, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa36040
Robinson, S., Pearson, J., & Jones, M. (2016). PosterPointing: Making Paper Displays Interactive Using Mobile Devices. In AfriCHI'16 Proceedings of the First African Conference on Human Computer Interaction (pp. 170-175). AfriCHI'16 , Nairobi, Kenya, Nov 21-25 2016.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2998581.2998594, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa28925
Häkkilä, J., Cheverst, K., Schöning, J., Bidwell, N., Robinson, S., & Colley, A. (2016). NatureCHI: Unobtrusive User Experiences with Technology in Nature. (pp. 3574-3580).
https://doi.org/10.1145/2851581.2856495, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa38796
Robinson, S., Coutrix, C., Pearson, J., Rosso, J., Torquato, M., Nigay, L., & Jones, M. (2016). Emergeables: Deformable Displays for Continuous Eyes-Free Mobile Interaction. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 3793-3805). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858097, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa25895
Robinson, S., Pearson, J., & Jones, M. (2015). Q-arrgh! — Commandeering Everyday Digital Codes. In MobileHCI 2015ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2785830.2785855, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa21708
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., & Jones, M. (2015). It’s About Time: Smartwatches as Public Displays. In CHI 2015 (pp. 1257-1266). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702247, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa20530
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., & Jones, M. (2015). It's About Time. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '15 (pp. 1257-1266). ACM Press.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2702123.2702247, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa54596
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., & Jones, M. (2015). PaperChains: Dynamic Sketch+Voice Annotations. In CSCW 2015 (pp. 383-392). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2675133.2675138, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa18727
Robinson, S., Pearson, J., & Jones, M. (2014). AudioCanvas: Internet-Free Interactive Audio Photos. In CHI 2014 (pp. 3735-3738). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2556993, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa18724
Robinson, S., Pearson, J., & Jones, M. (2014). A Billion Signposts: Repurposing Barcodes for Indoor Navigation. In CHI 2014 (pp. 639-642). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2556288.2556994, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa18725
Bidwell, N., Robinson, S., Vartiainen, E., Jones, M., Siya, M., Reitmaier, T., Marsden, G., & Lalmas, M. (2014). Designing Social Media for Community Information Sharing in Rural South Africa. In SAICSIT 2014 (pp. 104-114). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2664591.2664615, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa18726
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Jones, M., Nanavati, A., & Rajput, N. (2013). ACQR: Acoustic Quick Response Codes for Content Sharing on Low End Phones with No Internet Connectivity. In MobileHCI 2013 (pp. 308-317). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/2493190.2493195, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa18723
Pearson, J., Robinson, S., Buchanan, G., & Jones, M. (2013). TicQR: Flexible, Lightweight Linking of Paper and Digital Content Using Mobile Phones. In INTERACT 2013 (pp. 220-228). Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40498-6_16, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17383
Robinson, S., Vartiainen, E., Jones, M., & Marsden, G. (2012). PicoTales: Collaborative Authoring of Animated Stories using Handheld Projectors. In CSCW 2012 (pp. 671-680).
https://doi.org/10.1145/2145204.2145306, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17381
Frohlich, D., Robinson, S., Eglinton, K., Jones, M., & Vartiainen, E. (2012). Creative Cameraphone Use in Rural Developing Regions. In MobileHCI 2012 (pp. 181-190).
https://doi.org/10.1145/2371574.2371603, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17382
Robinson, S., Rajput, N., Jones, M., Jain, A., Sahay, S., & Nanavati, A. (2011). TapBack: Towards Richer Mobile Interfaces in Impoverished Contexts. In CHI 2011 (pp. 2733-2736).
https://doi.org/10.1145/1978942.1979345, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17380
Williamson, J., Robinson, S., Stewart, C., Murray-Smith, R., Jones, M., & Brewster, S. (2010). Social Gravity: A Virtual Elastic Tether for Casual, Privacy-Preserving Pedestrian Rendezvous. In CHI 2010 (pp. 1485-1494). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/1753326.1753548, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17377
Robinson, S., Jones, M., Eslambolchilar, P., Murray-Smith, R., & Lindborg, M. (2010). “I Did It My Way”: Moving Away from the Tyranny of Turn-by-Turn Pedestrian Navigation. In MobileHCI 2010 (pp. 341-344). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/1851600.1851660, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa17378
Robinson, S., Eslambolchilar, P., & Jones, M. (2009). Sweep-Shake: Finding Digital Resources in Physical Environments. In MobileHCI 2009 (pp. 85-94). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/1613858.1613874, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa32
Robinson, S., Eslambolchilar, P., & Jones, M. (2009). Evaluating haptics for information discovery while walking. In Proceedings of the 2009 British Computer Society Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 93-102). BCS.
https://doi.org/10.1145/1671011.1671022, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa96
Robinson, S., Eslambolchilar, P., & Jones, M. (2008). Point-to-GeoBlog: Gestures and Sensors to Support User Generated Content Creation. In MobileHCI 2008 (pp. 197-206). ACM.
https://doi.org/10.1145/1409240.1409262, SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa28
Robinson, S. (n.d.) Spoken Document Retrieval for an Unwritten Language: A Case Study on Gormati. In Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70213

Other Research Outputs

Robinson, S. (2012). Eyes-Off Physically Grounded Mobile Interaction
SU Repository: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa18729
https://simon.robinson.ac/projects/phd/Simon-Robinson-PhDThesis.pdf

Supervision

Investigating Positive Biasing of Large Language Models Towards Understanding Adversarial Autonomous Agents (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Jiaxiang Zhang

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones
Human-Centric Predictive Maintenance to Optimise Asset Performance in a Hydrogen Plant (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Cinzia Giannetti

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones
Trust-Enhanced Natural Language Processing for Standardisation of Radiology Reports (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Julian Hough

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones
Investigating The Cultural Adaptability Of Generative Ai In Type-2 Diabetes Healthcare. (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones

Other supervisor: Prof Jen Pearson
Promoters and Detractors of Customer Experience at HSBC (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Muneeb Ahmad

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones

Other supervisor: Dr Nicholas Micallef
Deciphering Essential Factors in Predictive Air Quality Modelling: Informing Human-Centric User Behaviour and Environmental Design Decisions (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones

Other supervisor: Dr Sara Sharifzadeh
Addressing Automotive User-Centric Privacy and Security: AI-Based TCU Analysis (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones

Other supervisor: Dr Hoang Nguyen
Proactive primary care with Multimodal Data Integration (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones

Other supervisor: Prof Jiaxiang Zhang
Modelling and Optimising Multi-Modal Customer Journeys in Commercial Banking: A Human-Centred Approach to Behavioural Analytics and Outcome Prediction Across Digital, Physical, and Telephony Channels (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Sean Walton

Other supervisor: Dr Fabio Caraffini

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones
Enabling intelligent and proactive Telecare services for elderly and vulnerable people (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Jiaxiang Zhang
Please amend this title to reflect the current thesis plan. (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Deepak Sahoo
A Human-Centred Approach to Investigating Learners’ Motivation and the Impact of e-Learning (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr David Playfoot
Exploring personalised virtual reality experiences using real-time user-tracking data in application to loneliness interventions (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Tom Owen
Developing Data Driven PROMs through Agile Participatory Design and Evaluations of Inclusive Digital Interventions to Support Patient Lead Cancer Care Pathway Improvements (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Matt Roach
Disability-first dataset creation in low-resource communities (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Jen Pearson

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones
Principled Explanations for Human-Centred Machine Learning (current)

PhD

Other supervisor: Prof Jen Pearson

Other supervisor: Prof Matt Jones

Other supervisor: Dr Matt Roach
Measuring Human’s Trust in Robots in Real-time During Human-Robot Interaction (awarded 2025)

PhD

Other supervisor: Dr Muneeb Ahmad
ReConstructibles: Physically Reconfigurable Shape-Changing Interfaces (awarded 2023)

MRes

Other supervisor: Dr Deepak Sahoo

Taught Modules

CS-200 Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction

This module introduces the key principles and practices of human-computer interaction (HCI). It describes in detail the basic concepts, methods and issues surrounding interaction design, explores the properties which make good and poor interfaces and presents the major design principles in the discipline. Students will learn how to gather and analyse requirement data, how to prototype designs, how to construct more usable user interfaces and how to design and run user evaluations.
CSC301 Software Engineering Project Planning and Management

Software projects have long had a reputation for cost and time overruns, but this need not be the case. There are techniques and processes to manage projects well and effectively, for example, agile methodologies such as Scrum, which has become a de-facto standard in the industry. In addition, many projects have significant legal, social, ethical and professional consequences that a practitioner needs to be aware of and sensitive to.

Professor Simon Robinson

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Research Highlights

All Research

Investigating Positive Biasing of Large Language Models Towards Understanding Adversarial Autonomous Agents (current)

Human-Centric Predictive Maintenance to Optimise Asset Performance in a Hydrogen Plant (current)

Trust-Enhanced Natural Language Processing for Standardisation of Radiology Reports (current)

Investigating The Cultural Adaptability Of Generative Ai In Type-2 Diabetes Healthcare. (current)

Promoters and Detractors of Customer Experience at HSBC (current)

Deciphering Essential Factors in Predictive Air Quality Modelling: Informing Human-Centric User Behaviour and Environmental Design Decisions (current)

Addressing Automotive User-Centric Privacy and Security: AI-Based TCU Analysis (current)

Proactive primary care with Multimodal Data Integration (current)

Modelling and Optimising Multi-Modal Customer Journeys in Commercial Banking: A Human-Centred Approach to Behavioural Analytics and Outcome Prediction Across Digital, Physical, and Telephony Channels (current)

Enabling intelligent and proactive Telecare services for elderly and vulnerable people (current)

Please amend this title to reflect the current thesis plan. (current)

A Human-Centred Approach to Investigating Learners’ Motivation and the Impact of e-Learning (current)

Exploring personalised virtual reality experiences using real-time user-tracking data in application to loneliness interventions (current)

Developing Data Driven PROMs through Agile Participatory Design and Evaluations of Inclusive Digital Interventions to Support Patient Lead Cancer Care Pathway Improvements (current)

Disability-first dataset creation in low-resource communities (current)

Principled Explanations for Human-Centred Machine Learning (current)

Measuring Human’s Trust in Robots in Real-time During Human-Robot Interaction (awarded 2025)

ReConstructibles: Physically Reconfigurable Shape-Changing Interfaces (awarded 2023)

CS-200 Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction

CSC301 Software Engineering Project Planning and Management