Zoey Walker

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About

Dr. Zoey Walker is a pioneering researcher in developmental human-robot interaction and multimodal dialogue systems, with a specialized focus on early childhood language acquisition. Her most influential work, "Multimodal Dialogue Management for Multiparty Interaction with Infants" (2018, 20 citations), introduces novel dialogue management routines that enable robotic agents to engage in socially contingent, multiparty interactions with infants. This foundational contribution addresses a critical challenge: designing systems that can help deaf or hard-of-hearing infants learn visual sign language during their early-life critical period for language development. By creating naturalistic, turn-taking conversational frameworks that integrate gaze, gesture, and vocal cues, Walker’s research bridges artificial intelligence and developmental psychology. Her work demonstrates how socially contingent robotic interaction can scaffold language learning in ways traditional screen-based technologies cannot. Though early in her career, Walker’s innovative approach to infant-directed dialogue management has already shaped discussions in assistive robotics and developmental computing. Her research holds profound implications for early intervention technologies, offering new pathways to support language acquisition in vulnerable populations during the most formative window of cognitive development.