While social robots are increasingly deployed across various domains—such as education, healthcare, and daily life—research in child–robot interaction has typically looked for commonalities in how children interact with robots and the outcomes that may lead to. This approach has typically emphasized general patterns rather than exploring the nuanced individual differences that may exist among children when engaging with social robots. However, children represent a particularly heterogeneous group, with large variability in development, personality, interests, expectations, and cultural backgrounds, all leading to diverse expectations and needs regarding interaction. Children’s behavior varies, not only between different children but also within the same child depending on context, time, emotional state, etc., reflecting the dynamic nature of their ongoing development. Despite this complexity, the role of individual characteristics in child–robot interaction and how technology adapts to the unique attributes of children remains largely underexplored. Addressing these gaps promises not only to broaden our understanding of how social robots might unfold their potential differently when considering the individual and cultural dimensions of children's development but also to refine child-oriented and personalized interactions with social robots.

Thus, the goal of this Research Topic is to explore the variability in child–robot interactions through the lens of individual child characteristics, investigating factors such as age, cognitive development, personality, cultural background, and personal preferences—and how these factors influence interactions with social robots in different domains. Understanding how both child-specific and proximal environmental factors shape these interactions, we can gain valuable insights into the processes by which children engage with and learn from social robots. By bringing together multiple types of analysis and disciplinary perspectives, we aim to gain insights into how robotics can be personalized to better meet children's individual needs and capabilities, ensuring that these technologies are tailored to reflect and respond effectively to children's unique or changing behaviors and can be responsibly integrated into diverse domains for educational, social, and health purposes.

We invite contributions that focus on, but are not limited to, the following questions:

● How do age-related differences affect the way children engage with robots in educational settings?

● What role do cognitive and emotional development play in the effectiveness of robot-assisted therapies in healthcare?

● What kind of patterns of variability can be observed in different groups of children when interacting with social robots?

● How can social robots be tailored to meet the cultural and personal preferences of children in everyday interactions?

● What are the trajectories of change in children’s behavior over the short or long term?

This theme aims to explore both theoretical insights and practical applications that can optimize the deployment of personalized robotics across diverse settings.

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Frontiers in Robotics and AI

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