Design and evaluation of applying robots to assisting and inducing children with autism in social interaction

Abstract

This article is a pilot study in which autistic children alternated between playing a diverse card game, physical instructions game with two different humanoid level robots. The purpose of the study was explores whether the differing humanoid levels and movements regarding robot appearance influence the responses of autistic children. The objective is to design an effective robot at a reasonable cost. The result of this study indicated that autistic children were happily involved in interactive scenarios. Two different humanoid level robots were able to guide the autistic children to complete the assigned experimental tasks, and generate basic social behavior. In other words, robots with various levels of physical similarity to humans are capable of generating positive effects in social interaction learning for autistic children. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.