Omar Abou Khaled

HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, HES-SO Fribourg

Papers

Total Citations

120

H-Index

About

Omar Abou Khaled is a leading researcher at the intersection of artificial intelligence, healthcare, and human-computer interaction, with a primary focus on developing empathetic and intelligent systems for human wellbeing. His work centers on creating "virtual coaches" and affective smart environments that can sense, interpret, and respond to human emotions. In his highly cited 2020 systematic review (62 citations), he established the foundational framework for virtual coaches designed to support older adults’ physical, cognitive, and emotional health. Abou Khaled has made groundbreaking contributions to empathetic AI, notably demonstrating through his 2020 study (42 citations) that medical chatbots can effectively deliver empathy based solely on short-term text conversations, significantly improving patient interaction. He further advanced this field by proposing a novel empathy scale adaptation for artificial agents (2022), providing a crucial metric for evaluating social AI. His earlier work on affective interaction in smart environments (2014) envisioned a future where furniture and surfaces actively communicate emotions, laying the groundwork for emotionally responsive living spaces. Through these contributions, Abou Khaled is shaping a future where technology not only assists but genuinely connects with its users.