Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Maria Santaguida is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of human sexuality and emerging technologies, with a primary focus on the psychology of sex robots and erotic technology. Her work has been instrumental in defining the emerging field of “erobotics,” where she investigates how artificial erotic agents—from sex toys to sophisticated sex robots—are perceived, stigmatized, and integrated into human sexual behavior. Santaguida’s major contributions include providing the first empirical evidence that sexual arousal increases willingness to engage with robots, a finding that challenges conventional assumptions about human-robot intimacy. She has also critically examined the stigma surrounding erotic technology, arguing that it stems more from societal attitudes toward sex than from the technology itself. Her methodological work proposes erobots as novel research tools to overcome the ethical and practical limitations of traditional sexology, offering a path toward more ecologically valid studies. With several of her 2022 papers already garnering over 20 citations each, Santaguida is rapidly shaping the discourse on the psychological and social implications of our increasingly technological intimate lives.