Presenter 

Moojan Ghafurian, Ph.D.

Abstract

Emotionally intelligent social robots have the potential to support wellbeing, communication, and care across a range of settings. In this talk, I will present our ongoing research on developing social robots capable of generating and responding to human emotions, highlighting key technical challenges in their design and development. I will also discuss examples of the applications of social robots that are being developed in the EITA lab, with a focus on supporting children, caregivers, and older adults, and a particular emphasis on the importance of co-design approaches that actively involve end users in design and development. Finally, I will present findings from a recent study to discuss some barriers to the adoption of AI and social robots, including concerns related to trust, privacy, and general acceptance.