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About

Katrina Ling is a human-robot interaction researcher whose work sits at the intersection of social robotics, aging, and emotional well-being. Her research focuses on designing and evaluating robotic technologies that address one of modern society's most pressing challenges: social isolation and loneliness among older adults. Through cross-cultural, participatory approaches spanning the United States and Japan, Ling investigates how robots can be meaningfully integrated into the social lives of middle-aged and older populations, ensuring that this demographic has an active voice in shaping the technologies intended to serve them. Her most cited work, "Socially Facilitative Robots for Older Adults to Alleviate Social Isolation" (2022, 32 citations), demonstrates her commitment to inclusive, community-centered design methodologies. Complementing this, her research on robot-mediated touch explores how physical expression of empathy can be conveyed remotely — a nuanced and underexplored dimension of emotional communication in digital environments (2022, 10 citations). Together, her publications reflect a broader ambition: to move social robotics beyond novelty and toward genuine, human-centered therapeutic utility. Ling's emerging body of work positions her as a thoughtful voice in designing compassionate, culturally sensitive technologies for aging populations globally.