I’m excited to share our work, “Would the Robot Cheapen Your Croissant? How Robots Impact Brand, Service and Quality Perception,” which has been accepted to IEEE RO-MAN 2026 in Kitakyushu, Japan.

In this work, we explore a simple but important question: Does having a robot serve food change how people perceive its quality, service, and brand? Through an in-the-wild experiment with more than 324 participants at a pop-up croissant bakery, Buttered Byte, we examined how the type of server, the presence of a human baker, and the quality of the croissant influence customer perceptions.

Interestingly, we found that people were willing to pay more for the same croissant when a baker and a server were both present—even when the server was a robot. The presence of a robot did not diminish perceptions of artisanal croissants, suggesting that robots can complement and support human craftsmanship rather than necessarily undermining the value of a product.

I’ll be presenting this work at IEEE RO-MAN 2026 on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, from 7:50–8:10 PM EDT (Paper WeD02.2).

If you’re interested in human-robot interaction, robotic service, consumer perception, or the role of robots in retail and food experiences, I’d be happy to have you join the talk!

The virtual attendance link will be available on the conference website soon.