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About

Chie Hieida is a robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of human-robot interaction, child psychology, and affective computing. Her research is particularly distinguished by its focus on designing robots that can build meaningful relationships with children, including those with shy or introverted personalities — a nuanced challenge that few researchers have tackled with such depth. Hieida's most influential work, "Toward Playmate Robots that Can Play with Children Considering Personality" (2014, 33 citations), demonstrated that effective robotic companions must adapt their behavior to individual children's temperaments. She extended this insight through groundbreaking investigations into physical touch as a relationship-building mechanism, showing that hand-holding and walking hand-in-hand between children and robots foster genuine social bonding — findings accumulated across multiple studies totaling over 30 citations. Beyond child-robot interaction, Hieida has made notable contributions to emotional modeling in robots, developing computational frameworks — including deep neural network-based emotion models — that enable robots to simulate and express feelings more authentically. Her work on gesture generation for humanoid presenters and emotional expression in flying robots further demonstrates her breadth across robotic embodiment and communication. With over 120 cumulative citations, her research offers valuable foundations for anyone studying socially intelligent robots, affective computing, or the future of robotic caregiving.