Computer Science Gerald M. Masson Distinguished Lecture Series: Maja Mataric

Description

Maja Mataric, a distinguished professor of computer science, neuroscience, and pediatrics at the University of Southern California, will give a talk titled "Robots That Care: Socially Assistive Robotics and the Future of Work and Care" as part of the Department of Computer Science's Gerald M. Masson Distinguished Lecture Series.

Please attend the event by using the Zoom link (Meeting ID: 942 5732 8882 | Email mwade12@jhu.edu for the passcode).

Abstract:

The nexus of advances in robotics, NLU, and machine learning has created opportunities for personalized robots toward supporting human activities in daily life. The current pandemic has both caused and exposed unprecedented levels of health & wellness, education, and training needs worldwide, which must increasingly be addressed in homes. Socially assistive robotics has the potential to address those and longer-standing care needs through personalized and affordable in-home support.

This talk will discuss human-robot interaction methods for socially assistive robotics that utilize multi-modal interaction data and expressive and persuasive robot behavior to monitor, coach, and motivate users to engage in health, wellness, education and training activities. Methods and results will be presented that include modeling, learning, and personalizing user motivation, engagement, and coaching of healthy children and adults, stroke patients, Alzheimer's patients, and children with autism spectrum disorders, in short and long-term (month+) deployments in schools, therapy centers, and homes. Research and commercial implications and pathways will be discussed.