Eleonora Beccaluva

Politecnico di Milano, Mylan (South Africa)

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About

Eleonora Beccaluva is a researcher at the frontier of socially assistive robotics, dedicated to understanding and enhancing human-robot interaction for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Her work centers on how these populations engage with robots, exploring robots not just as tools, but as social partners that can facilitate learning and communication. In a pivotal 2020 case study, she compared the social engagement of children with ASD when imitating a humanoid robot versus a human partner, revealing that robots can uniquely elicit focused eye gaze and interaction—a finding that has garnered 13 citations and opened new avenues for therapeutic design. Her 2017 study further established engagement as a prerequisite for learning with NDD subjects, demonstrating how robots can serve as effective mediators. More recently, her 2022 work directly asks individuals with NDD how they would prefer to communicate with a robot, shifting the design perspective to be user-led. By centering the voices and behaviors of her participants, Beccaluva’s research is not only technically insightful but deeply humanistic, laying the groundwork for more inclusive, responsive assistive technologies.