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About

Waki Kamino is a human-robot interaction researcher whose work sits at the intersection of social robotics, well-being, and design philosophy. With a particular focus on older adults and Japanese cultural contexts, Kamino has made significant contributions to understanding how robots can support meaningful, purposeful lives rather than merely functional ones. Their highly cited work on metaphors for human-robot interaction (49 citations) challenges the field's idealized assumptions about robotic perfection, urging designers to embrace robot fallibility more honestly. Kamino is especially recognized for pioneering research connecting the Japanese concept of *ikigai*—a sense of purpose and meaning—to robot acceptance and design, a thread running through multiple influential studies totaling over 65 citations. Their ethnographic investigation of robot cafes in Japan offers rare insight into how service robots are culturally staged and socially performed in public spaces. Kamino also explores forward-looking design questions, including how robots can be personalized through accessories and how "robot death" should be considered from the outset of companion robot design. Across their body of work, Kamino consistently advocates for richer, more sociologically grounded frameworks that move beyond feature-focused engineering toward genuinely human-centered robotic futures.