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About

Ori Novanda is a pioneering researcher in the field of socially assistive robotics, with a primary focus on developing humanoid robots to support children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). His most significant contribution is the iterative design and deployment of the KASPAR robot, a child-sized humanoid engineered to teach and improve social skills through interactive play. Novanda’s work on KASPAR, detailed in his highly cited 2017 paper (38 citations), established a foundational platform for child-robot interaction, emphasizing safe, engaging, and autonomous communication. He further advanced this field by developing an interactive architecture that enables autonomous, real-time interaction between children and robots, as outlined in his second most-cited work (8 citations). Novanda has also investigated user preferences in human-robot interaction, exploring which communication modalities—such as gesture, speech, or touch—are most effective for teaching robots through imitation games. His research bridges engineering, psychology, and education, demonstrating how robots can serve as therapeutic tools. With a growing citation impact, Novanda’s work is shaping the future of assistive robotics, offering scalable solutions for social skill development in vulnerable populations.