Music Play Using A Vibraphone With A Humanoid Robot As Interaction Training For Autistic Children

Abstract

Since 1998 robots have been used as social mediators that interact with autistic children. In this paper, we use music as a mediator between a robot and an autistic child. The robot plays a music interaction game by using a vibraphone, what might be seen as a kind of music therapy. The purpose of this work was to provide a robot and other multimedia interaction equipment as an interactive tool for professionals to reach the attention of their autistic pupils. The equipment has been used in a special care school in Taiwan. In this paper we focus on the technical aspects of this environment. We also briefly report first experiences with this type of multimedia environment sessions in the school