On the occasion of RomeCup 2026, Micol Spitale, a researcher from the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano, received the “Tullio De Mauro” Digital Humanities Award.
The award was presented as part of the fourth edition of the “Most Promising Researcher in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence” prize, dedicated to young researchers and PhD candidates working on research projects in the fields of robotics and artificial intelligence.
The winning project, entitled “Inclusive AI for group robotic interaction to support people with intellectual disabilities”, addresses some of the key challenges in assistive robotics by moving beyond traditional one-to-one interaction models toward forms of group human–robot interaction.
The research aims to develop inclusive and socially intelligent artificial intelligence systems that enable robots to interact safely, adaptively and in a personalised way with diverse groups, including people with different disabilities, caregivers and support figures.
By supporting multi-party communication, shared attention and coordinated assistance, the project seeks to respond more effectively to the needs of real-world care environments, helping to promote autonomy, social inclusion and better-quality support for people with intellectual disabilities.