Significant progress in academic exchange was made with Monash University in social robotics research during February and March 2023. Such exchange has aimed to promote collaboration and knowledge exchange while facilitating the advancement of research in the field.

In February 2023, Dr. Leimin Tian, a Research Fellow at the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering of Monash University visited Professor Hiroshi ISHIGURO’s laboratory for 20 days. During this time, joint research on the factors influencing the effectiveness of a social robot instructing mindfulness meditation to people was conducted, namely on the appearance of a physical or virtual robot and the cultural background of the users in Japan and Australia. This was followed with a visit to Monash University by Ms. Yuki SAKAMOTO, a graduate student under the supervision of Professor ISHIGURO, in March 2023. There, she discussed experimental design and system preparation relating to joint research on robots and avatars.

The researcher exchange yielded several positive outcomes. First, new collaborations between researchers from both universities were successfully established, which led to the exploration of new joint research projects. The exchange also facilitated the sharing of knowledge and expertise, allowing the researchers to learn new techniques and approaches to apply to their own research. Finally, the program paved the way for future funding opportunities from government agencies and private organizations interested in supporting interdisciplinary research on social robotics.