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About

Reona Gomi is a researcher specializing in human-robot interaction, social robotics, and community support systems, with a particular focus on addressing social isolation among elderly individuals and other vulnerable populations. Working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and social welfare, Gomi has made meaningful contributions to the development of conversational robots capable of acquiring personal characteristics, detecting human behavioral patterns, and facilitating meaningful social connections. Among Gomi's most notable contributions is the development of dialogue-based systems that analyze speech and personal attributes to enable "co-occurrence matching" — algorithmically connecting individuals with shared interests to foster local community bonds. This work gained heightened relevance following Japan's 2011 Tōhoku disaster, which underscored the critical importance of local community resilience. Gomi has also investigated physiological signals, such as heart rate during video chat conversations, to inform the design of socially intelligent chat robots that can mediate human relationships. With cumulative citations across multiple publications, including works from 2014 to 2019, Gomi's research speaks to an enduring and socially urgent mission: leveraging technology to combat loneliness, support mutual assistance networks, and empower communities. Students interested in socially assistive robotics and human-centered AI will find Gomi's body of work both pioneering and deeply humanistic.