Seiki Tokunaga
RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Kobe University, RIKEN
Papers
15
Total Citations
205
H-Index
7
About
Seiki Tokunaga is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of human-robot interaction, cognitive health, and assistive technology for older adults. His work centers on designing and evaluating intelligent conversational agents — particularly social robots and voice assistants — as tools for cognitive intervention and dementia prevention in aging populations. Tokunaga is perhaps best known for developing and rigorously testing the Photo-Integrated Conversation Moderated by Robots (PICMOR) program, a robot-facilitated group conversation intervention that has been evaluated through multiple randomized controlled trials, accumulating over 45 citations for its landmark 2021 publication. His research has demonstrated that structured social interaction, when thoughtfully mediated by robots, can meaningfully support cognitive health in older adults. Beyond clinical trials, Tokunaga has made significant contributions to personalized care robotics, including the VirtualCareGiver system (38 citations), which addressed the longstanding challenge of adapting robot behavior to individual users' needs. His dialogue-based storytelling systems and his investigation into how embodiment affects user experience — comparing physical robots to voice assistants — reflect a sophisticated, user-centered design philosophy. With over 190 cumulative citations, Tokunaga's interdisciplinary research offers both rigorous evidence and practical frameworks that meaningfully advance the field of robot-assisted healthy aging.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 2VirtualCareGiver38 citations · 2016
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- 5Deploying service integration agent for personalized smart elderly care15 citations · 2016
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