Katelynn Oleson

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Katelynn Oleson is a researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction (HRI), adolescent mental health, and virtual reality (VR) design. Her work centers on how teens perceive and collaborate with social robots, particularly in sensitive contexts like mental health support and school environments. In her most cited paper, “I Am the Robot: Teen Collaboration in an Asymmetric, Virtual Reality Game” (2022, 4 citations), Oleson used participatory, human-centered design to develop a VR game that explored teens’ perceptions of social robots, revealing how asymmetric roles shape collaboration. Her follow-up study, “Public Versus Private: How Teens Perceived Teen-Robot Interactions in a School Setting” (2022, 3 citations), uncovered a critical design tension: teens wanted both public visibility and private intimacy with robots, a finding that directly informs the deployment of social-emotional tools in schools. Oleson’s work on “Share with Me: A Study on a Social Robot Collecting Mental Health Data” (2022, 1 citation) further demonstrates her commitment to ethical, teen-centered design. With a growing citation footprint, Oleson is shaping how we design robots that respect adolescent autonomy, privacy, and social dynamics—paving the way for more thoughtful, youth-inclusive technology.