Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Kenna Baugus is a leading researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction (HRI) and healthcare, with a primary focus on socially-assistive robots (SARs) for therapeutic support. Her work centers on designing autonomous robotic companions—most notably Therabot—that can adapt their behaviors to enhance mental health and chronic disease management outside clinical settings. Through a data-driven approach, Baugus has pioneered methods for enabling robotic pets to autonomously modify their interactions based on real-time human activity data, a contribution that promises to transform home-based care for conditions like diabetes and dementia. Her research also critically examines the ethical dimensions of deploying robots in sensitive contexts, particularly around user privacy and autonomy in robot-assisted therapy. With over 50 citations across her most-cited works, including foundational papers on conducting HRI studies and qualitative interview techniques, Baugus has established herself as a key voice in responsible SAR design. Her 2023 work on generative replay for multi-class activity modeling represents a significant step toward truly adaptive, long-term therapeutic robots that learn and evolve with their users.