Interactive robots for communication-care: A case-study in autism therapy

Hideki Kozima, Cocoro Nakagawa, Yuriko Yasuda

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

239 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The paper proposes possible use of interactive robots in the remedial practice for children with autism, who have difficulties mainly in interpersonal communication. For this purpose, we built a small creature-like robot, Keepon, which was carefully designed to get autistic and non-autistic children involved in playful interaction. We observed how autistic children (2-4 years old) interacted with Keepon without any experimental setting or instructions in a playroom at a day-care center for children with special needs. From the longitudinal observation for a year and a half (totally, over 500 child-sessions), we found that Keepon's simple appearance and predictable responses gave the autistic children a playful and relaxed mood, in which they spontaneously engaged in dyadic play with Keepon, which would then expand into interpersonal communication where Keepon worked as the pivot of triadic play with adults or other children. Each child showed a different style and a different unfolding of interaction over time, which tell us a "story" of his or her personality and developmental profile, which would not be explained thoroughly by a diagnostic label like "autism".

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication14th IEEE Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2005
Pages341-346
Number of pages6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2005 Dec 1
Externally publishedYes
Event14th IEEE Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2005 - Nashville, TN, United States
Duration: 2005 Aug 132005 Aug 15

Publication series

NameProceedings - IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication
Volume2005

Other

Other14th IEEE Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, RO-MAN 2005
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityNashville, TN
Period05/8/1305/8/15

Keywords

  • Autism
  • Child development
  • Longitudinal observation
  • Social interaction
  • Therapeutic application

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Engineering(all)

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