Postdoctoral Research Associate in Human-Computer Interaction and Soft Robotics at the University of Bristol. She explores how soft and adaptive robotic materials can reshape interaction and embodiment, and how people come to understand and connect with these emerging forms. Drawing on her interdisciplinary background in psychology, neuroscience, data science and design, her work develops affective and embodied approaches to robotics that emphasize social connection and human values.

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Professor of Informatics at TU Wien, Austria. She specializes in Human-Centered Computing and Ubiquitous Technologies. She is known for her pioneering work in drone interaction, exploring how flying robots can become intuitive and socially aware companions. Her research spans human-computer and human-robot interaction, as well as intelligent systems more generally, with applications in mobile and wearable computing, as well as in social robotics. Through an interdisciplinary lens, she investigates how intelligent technologies can adapt to human needs in dynamic and embodied ways.

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A contemporary dance artist and Research Fellow in Performance and Technology at the University of South Wales. Her work investigates how embodied experiences can inform the design, ethics, and aesthetics of digital environments and interactions. She has extensive experience in dance for screen with award-winning film work shown worldwide and broadcast on BBC and Channel 4. Her PhD studies bridged performance and computer science taking a dance-somatic approach to explore how digital technologies mediate interactions between human and nonhuman bodies using virtual reality in participatory performance.

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Professor in Interaction Design at KTH Royal Institute of Technology whose research focuses on interaction design in relation to touch technologies.  A guiding belief that she brings, is that touch is intimate, it can change how we understand, think and feel about ourselves. In response, Madeline and her team use soma design as an approach to designing technologies which touch the body, and touch the body well. Her work includes explorations of how to touch the body in moments of menstrual pain, through to how to touch intimate parts of the body such as the pelvic floor muscles to bring body awareness and new knowledge.

PhD student from the CDT in Digital Health within the Bristol Interaction Group at the University of Bristol. She is working at the intersection of robotics and digital health, with a focus on designing therapeutic technologies. Her research explores how the principles behind horse therapy can inform the development of robots that support individuals through therapeutic processes, particularly those who have experienced trauma. By studying the unique bond formed between humans and horses in therapeutic contexts, Ellen aims to uncover design insights that can help create robots capable of offering meaningful emotional support and companionship.

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Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Bristol and a leader in Human-Computer Interaction. She heads the Bristol Interaction Group (BIG) and specializes in shape-changing interfaces. Her recent work includes developing giant inflatable robots designed for intimate human interaction, such as robots you can hug, as well as therapeutic robots inspired by horse therapy. Anne drives a highly multidisciplinary research agenda that challenges traditional boundaries in robotics and interaction design.

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Postdoctoral Research Fellow at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. Her work is driven by a deep curiosity about interfaces, the boundaries between people, within ourselves, and between humans and technology. With expertise in engineering, soft robotics, and shape-changing materials, she has recently begun to incorporate Soma Design methods into her approach, foregrounding the body and lived experience in the design of technologies that interface with the body. Her current projects involve exploring body-based interactions with soft robots, from small on-body wearables to large scale expressive robot creatures.

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Assistant Professor at TU Eindhoven, working at the intersection of interaction design, soft robotics, and materials science. Her research explores Material Programming, investigating how programmable and responsive materials such as liquid crystal elastomers, magneto-responsive polymers, and cellulose-based actuators can be integrated into interactive systems that evolve over time and respond reciprocally to human interaction.

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Research Associate in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Bristol. His research focuses on developing soft robotic cross-sensory technologies to support visually impaired children. He explores how material engineering can create new forms of interaction, sensation, and devices that enable more inclusive and multisensory experiences, bridging interactions between disabled and non-disabled users.

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