Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Victoria Cristancho‐Lacroix is a leading researcher at the intersection of geriatric psychology and human-robot interaction, whose work focuses on designing assistive technologies to improve the well-being of older adults with cognitive impairments. Her major contributions center on understanding how individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease perceive and interact with social robots, particularly through the ROBADOM project. Her most cited study (145 citations) explores the attitudes of older adults with MCI toward assistive robots, revealing key insights into their needs and preferences for robot functionalities. She has also demonstrated the differential efficacy of brief social robot-based interventions for patients with major neurodegenerative disorders, showing significant improvements in well-being across three neuropsychiatric profiles (45 citations). Her work bridges engineering, psychology, and gerontology, providing evidence-based guidelines for developing emotionally supportive robots that can be deployed in institutional settings. Through the Lusage user-lab experience, she has pioneered participatory design methods that place end-users at the center of technology development. Cristancho‐Lacroix’s research is foundational for the emerging field of socially assistive robotics in dementia care, offering a compassionate, human-centered approach to aging and cognitive decline.