CopyRobot: Interactive Mirroring Robotics Game for ASD Children

Abstract

The family of disorders commonly known as autism is characterized by a deficit in social interaction and restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behaviours, activities and interests. Motor disturbances are not part of the diagnosis of the children with autism but some studies have estimated that between 80 and 90% of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrate some degree of motor impairments. Several therapies have been used for the improvement of motor skills, always leading to behavioural improvements as side-effects, demonstrating the importance of motor interaction and stimulation for the case of autism. Recent studies have shown that motor, imitation and social abilities are all related in people with autism. In this work, a humanoid robot is used to create a therapy that unites all these areas. The system involves a robot (NAO), a Kinect camera and Personal Computer, with the goal of facilitating the interaction between therapist and a child with ASD during a physical therapy session. To improve the imitation abilities of the child, the robot was programmed to mirror both the child and the therapist movements. After testing different tracking methodologies, the Kinect sensor was selected as the best compromise of quality and cost. Two protocols were developed, depending on who plays the role of the main actor. In the first protocol, the robot is the master and leads the interaction. It decides the exercise to execute and gives feedback to both the therapist and the child. In the second protocol, the choice of the exercise sequence is the therapist’s responsibility. To promote interaction further during clinical tests, the protocol was changed to include gesture imitation. For the robot master protocol, the space theme was chosen. For the therapist master protocol, the theme of sports, that was already performed by the children in the usual therapy, was adopted. The system was tested in realistic conditions with two different autistic children. The reaction was different in each case but it demonstrated the importance of these imitation games in the treatment of this disease.