Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Laura Kunold is a researcher at the forefront of social robotics, investigating the nuanced psychological and communicative dynamics between humans and robots. Her work centers on how robots are perceived and evaluated, challenging assumptions about their design and interaction. Kunold’s major contributions include demonstrating that a robot’s morphological features—such as its appearance—significantly shape how people attribute capabilities to it, a finding from her highly cited 2023 paper (24 citations). She has also developed a pragmatic framework for designing communication in social robots, emphasizing a sender–receiver model to improve interaction quality. Her experimental studies reveal critical insights: that observing a robot’s touch is not equivalent to feeling it, and that robotic ostracism—being excluded by a robot’s language—can harm fundamental psychological needs and spill over into human-human interactions. Notably, her 2024 work explores the reciprocal nature of trust, showing that a robot’s disclosure of distrust can influence human trust levels. With a growing citation impact, Kunold’s research is essential for anyone designing robots that must collaborate, communicate, and coexist with people in social and workplace settings.