Papers
34
Total Citations
422
H-Index
11
About
Micol Spitale is a leading researcher at the intersection of affective robotics, socially assistive robotics (SAR), and mental well-being technology. Her work focuses on designing and deploying robotic systems that can serve as mental well-being coaches, empathetic storytellers, and therapeutic aids for children with language impairments. Spitale’s major contributions include pioneering empirical studies on using robots to evaluate and promote mental well-being in both workplace and clinical settings—such as her 2023 study on robotic well-being coaches (46 citations) and her 2022 work on SARs for children’s mental health evaluation (37 citations). She has also advanced the field of computational empathy, modeling how robot storytellers can elicit and perceive human empathy (38 citations). Her scoping review on affective robotics for well-being (28 citations) and her design and ethical recommendations for robotic coaches (26 citations) provide foundational guidelines for the field. Notably, her recent work on VITA—a multi-modal LLM-based system for autonomous, adaptive robotic coaching (2025, 16 citations)—demonstrates her commitment to moving robotic well-being interventions from lab to real-world settings, including public cafes and workplaces. Spitale’s research has profound implications for accessible, scalable mental health support.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Robotic Mental Well-being Coaches for the Workplace46 citations · 2023
- 2Socially Assistive Robots as Storytellers that Elicit Empathy38 citations · 2022
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- 5Affective Robotics For Wellbeing: A Scoping Review28 citations · 2022
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- 7Robots as Mental Well-being Coaches: Design and Ethical Recommendations26 citations · 2024
- 8Modeling User Empathy Elicited by a Robot Storyteller23 citations · 2021
- 9Robotic Coaches Delivering Group Mindfulness Practice at a Public Cafe18 citations · 2023
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