Last week we welcomed Prof. Patrícia Alves-Oliveira to our institute. As invited speaker she gave a talk about social robots serving as unique tools to enhance creativity, provide physical assistance, and support mental health in the two domains education and health. Presenting her human centered design approach for social robots in real scenarios, she showed how people can be empowered. In a recent project, she focuses on fostering creativity in kids through social robots.

A big thank you for a great talk, encouraging our scientists to look beyond the research into real world scenarios. We are looking forward to impactful collaborations in the future.

Prof. Patrícia Alves-Oliveira is an Assistant Professor for Robotics at the University of Michigan. Her research explores designing, creating, and deploying social robots in education and health. She was invited as part of our invited speaker series to look beyond our own research, encourage multidisciplinary exchange between scientists and promote high quality collaborations.