Dr Valeria Macalupu

    Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    Dr Valeria Macalupu is a Postdoctoral research fellow, sessional educator and interdisciplinary designer at Queensland University of Technology. With a background in Industrial and Interaction Design, Valeria is passionate about co-designing emerging technologies, with a particular focus on social robots for enhancing aged care and independent living. Currently, Valeria is involved in developing Human-Robot Collaboration content and bridging the gap between industry and research of chore robots for aged care.
    In this project, Valeria is re-designing the game Time’s Up, inspired by experiences shared by aged care workers in submissions to the Royal Commission into Aged Care and other papers highlighting the challenges that personal care workers endure working in residential aged care facilities. Using Augmented Reality and the framework of discomfort experiences, Valeria aims to provoke an engaged and impactful experience to stimulate empathy and understanding within the broader community.