Hello there!

I’m a research scientist in the human-robot interaction field, focused on social robots for wellbeing and assistive applications. I examine the ethical and unethical design of robots through human-centred and participatory design, empirical experimentation, and ethical socio-technical analysis.

Currently, I’m an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh UK. I previously completed my PhD and postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge, was a visiting PhD student at MIT Media Lab, and co-founded immersive artwork collective Ekho in Finland. My research and art has been featured in various publications, including the BBC.

Recent Updates

Jul 30, 2026

Social Robotic Surveillance and Manipulation: New paper in THRI on robot risks to users and society

New paper published in THRI examining how pervasive data collection, personalisation and robotic influence could harm robot users and society, via social robotic surveillance and manipulation.

Mar 19, 2026

Presenting Late Breaking Report at HRI 2026

Presenting at the HRI Conference! Late breaking report on disambiguating anthropomorphism and anthropomimesis with Dr Henry Shevlin.

Nov 11, 2025

Attending BritCHI with two Futures Publications

Presenting at the BritCHI Conference! Two publications on speculative futures of robots in public and equitable robotics.

Recent Projects

image from Robot Ethics

Robot Ethics

My postdoctoral research investigated robot ethics, from design, user advocacy, and socio-technical perspectives. It examined social robots for well-being and companionship, and the ethical speculative design of robot futures.
image from Robotic Mental Well-being Coaches

Robotic Mental Well-being Coaches

My PhD research investigates how robots could be ethically designed and deployed to be accessible tools to promote users’ mental well-being.
image from Design Workshops for Social Robots

Design Workshops for Social Robots

I lead design workshops for social robots with companies and academics. These workshops teach teams how to (ethically) co-design of social robots, and how to use the Social Robot Co-Design Canvases.