M. Nardelli

Papers

Total Citations

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About

M. Nardelli is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of social robotics, affective computing, and human-robot interaction (HRI). Their work fundamentally explores how humans build trust and emotional connections with intelligent machines, particularly social robots that embody human-like emotional states. Nardelli’s most influential contribution, "Promises and trust in human–robot interaction" (2021), has garnered 84 citations, establishing a critical framework for understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying human trust in robotic partners—a question of growing importance as robots enter homes, healthcare, and public spaces. Earlier, Nardelli advanced the field with "Towards a novel generation of haptic and robotic interfaces: Integrating affective physiology in human-robot interaction" (2016, 15 citations), which broke new ground by merging haptic feedback with emotional physiology. This work challenged the traditional focus on discriminative touch (e.g., texture or pressure) and instead highlighted touch as a deeply emotional sense, paving the way for robots that can both sense and respond to human affective states. By bridging engineering, psychology, and neuroscience, Nardelli’s research is shaping the next generation of emotionally intelligent robots—machines that don’t just perform tasks, but genuinely connect with people.