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About

Deanna Kocher is a researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction, assistive technology, and child development. Her work focuses on designing robots that can collaborate effectively with children and support aging populations. In her most-cited paper, "Better together" (2020, 6 citations), Kocher explores how children naturally exhibit prosocial behavior toward robot collaborators that fail during joint tasks, revealing critical insights for designing robots that can leverage children's innate helpfulness. She also introduced an innovative affective robotic appendage—a "fin" for non-humanoid robots—that communicates emotion to child collaborators, drawing inspiration from cartoon characters with expressive ears (2021, 2 citations). Beyond child-robot interaction, Kocher has contributed to assistive technology for seniors, demonstrating the value of low-fidelity physical prototypes when working with rehabilitation specialists before deploying novel devices into homes (2021, 4 citations). Her work bridges developmental psychology, robotics design, and real-world deployment considerations, offering practical frameworks for creating socially aware robots that can build meaningful partnerships with humans across the lifespan.