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About

Jelle Saldien is a pioneering robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of social robotics, human-robot interaction, and assistive technology for vulnerable populations. Best known as the principal architect behind **Probo**, an innovative huggable social robot designed for children in hospital settings, Saldien has dedicated his career to developing robots that communicate meaningfully through emotional and nonverbal cues. His most celebrated contributions center on leveraging Probo as a therapeutic tool for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). His 2012 paper on using Probo as a social storytelling agent (193 citations) and his foundational 2010 work on emotional expression in social robots (156 citations) established him as a leading voice in robot-assisted therapy. Through rigorous single-case experiments and comparative studies, Saldien and his collaborators demonstrated that social robots can meaningfully support children's emotional recognition and social skill development in ways that traditional computer-based tools cannot replicate. Beyond therapy, his technical contributions span mechanical design, motion systems, and DIY educational robotics kits, reflecting a rare breadth from engineering to applied behavioral research. With over 580 citations across his key works and a research trajectory stretching from early prototypes like ANTY (2006) to sophisticated motion-control systems, Saldien's scholarship has meaningfully shaped how the field conceptualizes socially assistive robotics.