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About

Ronda Ringfort-Felner is an emerging researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction, design fiction, and social robotics, whose work challenges conventional approaches to robot development by centering human meaning, relationships, and psychological well-being. Rather than focusing narrowly on technical efficiency or task replacement, Ringfort-Felner advocates for a more holistic vision of robot design — one that imagines robots as collaborative companions capable of complementing human strengths rather than rendering them obsolete. Her most cited works, including "Meaningful Futures with Robots" and "The Intricacies of Social Robots" (each with 16 citations), demonstrate her innovative use of design fiction and fictional documentaries as methodological tools for exploring complex social scenarios that robots may one day inhabit. Her 2022 piece "How to Design Robots with Superpowers" (10 citations) has been particularly notable for reframing the robot design conversation around psychological and collaborative potential. Together, her publications form a cohesive body of work that bridges imaginative speculation with practical design guidance. For students and researchers navigating the rapidly evolving landscape of social robotics, Ringfort-Felner's scholarship offers an indispensable ethical and creative framework for asking not just *what* robots can do, but *how* we want to live alongside them.