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Affective tactile interaction constitutes a fundamental component of human communication. In natural human-human encounters, touch is seldom experienced in isolation; rather, it is inherently multisensory. Individuals not only perceive the…
Mindfulness is the state of paying attention to the present moment on purpose and meditation is the technique to obtain this state. This study aims to develop a robot assistant that facilitates mindfulness training by means of a Brain…
We aim to design robotic educational support systems that can promote socially and intellectually meaningful learning experiences for students while they complete school work outside of class. To pursue this goal, we conducted participatory…
Socially assistive robots have the potential to improve group dynamics when interacting with groups of people in social settings. This work contributes to the understanding of those dynamics through a user study of trust dynamics in the…
We present an ongoing project that aims to develop a social robot to help children cope with painful and distressing medical procedures in a clinical setting. Our approach uses automated planning as a core component for action selection in…
Parent-child interaction is critical for child development, yet parents may need guidance in some aspects of their engagement with their children. Current research on educational math robots focuses on child-robot interactions but falls…
Children can find it challenging to communicate their emotions especially when experiencing mental health challenges. Technological solutions may help children communicate digitally and receive support from one another as advances in…
We begin this paper by presenting our approach to robot manipulation, which emphasizes the benefits of making contact with the world across the entire manipulator. We assume that low contact forces are benign, and focus on the development…
The diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children is commonly accompanied by a diagnosis of sensory processing disorders as well. Abnormalities are usually reported in multiple sensory processing domains, showing a higher…
Emotion regulation is a crucial skill for managing emotions in everyday life, yet finding a constructive and accessible method to support these processes remains challenging due to their cognitive demands. In this study, we explore how…
Robots are becoming more capable and can autonomously perform tasks such as navigating between locations. However, human oversight remains crucial. This study compared two touchless methods for directing mobile robots: voice control and…
To address the global challenge of population aging, our goal is to enhance successful aging through the introduction of robots capable of assisting in daily physical activities and promoting light exercises, which would enhance the…
Emotion regulation (ER) is essential to mental well-being but often difficult to access, especially in high-intensity moments or for individuals with clinical vulnerabilities. While existing technology-based ER tools offer value, they…
We consider a service robot that offers chocolate treats to people passing in its proximity: it has the capability of predicting in advance a person's intention to interact, and to actuate an "offering" gesture, subtly extending the tray of…
Socialization is an essential development skill for preschool children. In collaboration with the LEGO Group, we developed Robert Robot, a simplified robot, which enables socialization between children and facilitates shared experiences…
This research addressed whether interactions with social robots could facilitate joint attention of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two conditions of initiators, namely 'Human' vs. 'Robot' were measured with 15 children with ASD and 15…
Teaching dexterity to multi-fingered robots has been a longstanding challenge in robotics. Most prominent work in this area focuses on learning controllers or policies that either operate on visual observations or state estimates derived…
Assistive and Wearable Robotics have the potential to support humans with different types of motor impairments to become independent and fulfil their activities of daily living successfully. The success of these robot systems, however,…
Mobile robots joining public spaces like sidewalks must care for pedestrian comfort. Many studies consider pedestrians' objective safety, for example, by developing collision avoidance algorithms, but not enough studies take the…
In peer mediation--an approach to conflict resolution used in many K-12 schools in the United States--students help other students to resolve conflicts. For schools without peer mediation programs, socially assistive robots (SARs) may be…