Nichola Lubold
Papers
10
Total Citations
162
H-Index
6
About
Nichola Lubold is a leading researcher in social human-robot interaction, focusing on how voice-adaptive and socially responsive speech interfaces can transform robotic learning companions. Her work centers on the critical role of rapport—the sense of connection and trust between humans and machines—in educational settings. Lubold’s major contributions demonstrate that when a robot adapts its pitch to match a user’s, it significantly enhances rapport, perceived support, and even learning outcomes. Her most-cited paper (55 citations) shows that combining voice-adaptation with social dialogue improves perceptions of a robotic learning companion. In a landmark study (22 citations), she proved that automated pitch convergence directly boosts learning in middle school mathematics. Lubold has also explored how user comfort with robots influences rapport over multiple sessions and developed the ROBIN platform, which uses a programmable robot to provide feedback and encouragement on programming tasks. Her iterative design approach has created efficacy-building social experiences, making her a key figure in the quest to build effective, engaging, and socially intelligent educational robots.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 9Dyadic Stance in Natural Language Communication with a Teachable Robot4 citations · 2018
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