Keiko Ochi

Tokyo University of Science, Kyoto University

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Keiko Ochi’s research career bridges two distinct yet impactful domains: bio-inspired robotics and socially assistive robots for mental health. Her early work introduced insect-inspired landmark navigation strategies for flying robots, proposing sensor-based homing methods that draw from biological systems to solve mobile robot localization—a contribution that laid groundwork for nature-inspired autonomous navigation. More recently, Ochi has pioneered the use of attentive-listening robots in psychiatric daycare settings. Her 2023 study, with 4 citations, demonstrated how a robot employing counseling techniques—such as repeating user speech—can positively influence pleasure and arousal in psychiatric outpatients. Building on this, her 2025 work explores robot-mediated multi-party conversations designed to improve affect and social interaction among psychiatric patients. Though her citation counts remain modest, Ochi’s trajectory reflects a meaningful shift from technical robotics to human-centered applications, targeting real-world social implementation in hospitals. Her work stands out for its compassionate focus on rehabilitation and affect improvement, offering a rare integration of engineering precision with therapeutic sensitivity.