Erik Billing
Associate Professor of Informatics
School of Informatics
Room PA520C
I am a researcher at the Interaction Lab here at the University of Skövde. My primary research focus lies on cognitive modelling for human-robot interaction, which I approach with a strong stance in embodied and situated views on cognition.
Current projects:
- Social robots in home environments for older persons' quality of life - needs, opportunities and obstacles (RO-LIV) is a 2.5 year research project funded by the Kamprad Family Foundation.
- Operator competence in automated and virtual environments (OKAVIM) is a three year research project funded by AFA where we investigate the role of memory retreval (testing effect) in virtual learning environments.
- Empowering Human Workers for Assembly of Wire Harnesses (EWASS) is a three-year project funded by Vinnova, developing methods for action prediction in human-robot collaborative settings.
- SeeMe: Children's Needs in Connection with Hospital Visits is a shorter phase 1 project funded by the VGR Innovation Platform. SeeMe aims to strengthen the child perspectives in the design of hospital built environments.
Former projects:
- Virtual Ergonomics is a four year synergy with several companies, funded by the Swedish Knowledge Foundation (KK), where we among many other things develop cognitive models of human motion and action selection.
- Action and Intention Recognition in Human Interaction with Autonomous Systems (AIR), KK, 2014-2019
- Development of Robot-Enhanced Therapy for Children with Autism (DREAM), EU/FP7, 2014-2019
- DesTex, VGR, 2016-2018
- Neural Dynamics, EU/STREP, 2012-2015
I also have a big heart for robot learning from demonstration and wrote my PhD thesis on the topic, titled Cognition Rehearsed – Recognition and Reproduction of Demonstrated Behavior, presented January 2012. The thesis presents novel techniques for learning from human demonstration, inspired by several cognitive and neurocomputational models of learning.
Please also refer to my profiles at Google scholar, Mendeley, and Research Gate.
Research
Publications
Projects
2025
Frontiers in Robotics and AI
2025. Article, editorial.
https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2025.1564948
2024
Proceedings of the 19th SweCog Conference
2024. Conference paper, poster.
Studies in Perception and Action XVII: 22nd International Conference on Perception and Action
2024. Conference paper, poster.
Proceedings of the 19th SweCog Conference
2024. Conference paper.
Proceedings of the 19th SweCog Conference
2024. Conference paper, poster.
Proceedings of the 19th SweCog Conference
2024. Conference paper, poster.
Extended Reality: International Conference, XR Salento 2024, Lecce, Italy, September 4–7, 2024, Proceedings, Part II
2024. Conference paper. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-71704-8_25
2024. Editor (conference proceedings).
International Journal of Social Robotics
2024. Article.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-024-01107-3
2023
HRI '23: Companion of the 2023 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
2023. Conference paper, oral presentation with abstract.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3568294.3580040
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
Ongoing projects
Upskilling or deskilling in robotized environments (KOMPARO)
The purpose of KOMPARO is to enhance understanding of how robotization, specifically in the form of human-robot collaboration (HRC), affects operators’ professional competence and sense of control at work, as well as how collaborative robots should be designed to support operators’ own competence development.
April 2025 - March 2028 InformaticsSocial robots in home environments for older persons' quality of life (RO-LIV)
The purpose of RO-LIV is to identify the needs, solutions, and obstacles for assistive social robots that contribute to improved quality of life for older persons. The project is based on interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers in informatics and health science and aims to deliver a roadmap supporting decision-makers in the implementation of social robots in care for older persons, with a specific focus on the home environment.
March 2024 - September 2026 InformaticsOperator competence in automated and virtual environments (OKAVIM)
Digital tools based on AR and VR are increasingly used in industry to support operators. But how does it affect employees' skills and understanding of the systems they work with? The University of Skövde has been granted SEK 4.8 million to develop a guide for how the digital tools should be used in the manufacturing industry.
February 2023 - January 2026 InformaticsFinished projects
Synergy Virtual Ergonomics
The UN sustainability goals and the European and Swedish research agendas describe a need for efficient and effective tools and intervention methods to improve our ability to monitor and prevent disorders and diseases. European and Swedish research agendas also call for efficient digitalisation tools for the design, modelling, simulation, optimisation, visualisation, and forecasting of products and production processes, resources, systems, and factories during their life cycles.
October 2019 - September 2023 Virtual EngineeringDREAM – can robots help autistic children?
DREAM is a project funded by the European Commission and coordinated by the University of Skövde. The goal is to deliver the next generation robot-enhanced therapy (RET) for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), developing clinical interactive capacities for social robots that can operate autonomously for limited periods under the supervision of a psychotherapist.
April 2014 - March 2019 InformaticsInteraction between humans and autonomous systems
AIR investigates action and intention recognition in human interaction with autonomous systems (or AIR, for short). More specifically, the focus is on the interaction of humans and autonomous systems that move in shared physical spaces.
April 2015 - March 2019 Informatics