The start of 2020 not only saw a world gripped by COVID-19, but also the tragic deaths George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, amongst others. Their emphasized continued underlying systemic racism routinely experienced people black heritage worldwide. Often these disparities can be hidden/covert it is clear that students face significant disadvantages when comes to achievement at univer...

ii Abstract Artificial companion agents are defined as hardware or software entities designed to provide companionship to a person. The senior population are facing a special demand for companionship. Artificial companion agents have been demonstrated to be useful in therapy, offering emotional companionship and facilitating socialization. However, there is lack of empirical studies on what the...