An android head for social-emotional intervention for children with autism spectrum conditions

Abstract

Many children with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have difficulties recognizing emotions from facial expressions. Behavioural interventions have attempted to address this issue but their drawbacks have prompted the exploration of new intervention strategies. Robots have proven to be an engaging and effective possibility. Our work will investigate the use of a facially-expressive android head as a social partner for children with ASC. The main goal of this research is to improve the emotion recognition capabilities of the children through observation, imitation and control of facial expressions on the android. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.