This paper introduces an experimental trial that will take place from February to June 2021, and which will see the use of the Pepper robot in a therapeutic laboratory on autonomies that will promote functional acquisitions in children diagnosed with high functioning autism/Asperger's syndrome.
Autism spectrum disorders include a group
of permanent disabilities that affect the ability
to communicate, understand social cues, and
recognize and express emotions. Autistic
children are generally very attracted to the
technology with which they are able to
establish social relationships. Following this,
since the beginning of the 2000s, research and
experiments have been carried out on the use
of social robots as therapy tools that have
shown how they are particularly engaging and
able to arouse new social and communicative
behaviors in autistic people, particularly in
children and adolescents
With respect to the specific role of the Pepper robot2, the reference literature highlights how much children with this diagnosis can be attracted to the robot and implement a greater number of communicative and social initiatives, precisely because the motivation in relating to the robot is higher than others. In the field of Autism Spectrum Disorders, in fact, the interest is directed more towards objects and components of objects and, moreover, there is a particular predisposition and interest in electronic and computer devices. In this sense, Pepper can represent the third party that encourages communicative and social initiative, facilitating the relationship with the other towards which the communicative actions of children must then be gradually directed to. Pepper is placed within what is technically defined Pairing, a procedure that can make the other pleasant and motivating for children as it is associated with Pepper (i.e., an adult that initially is considered as a neutral stimulus that becomes a positive stimulus thanks to the contribution of Pepper). 2 https://www.softbankrobotics.com/emea/en/pepper
There are a variety of therapeutic
approaches that involve the use of robots or
other computer technologies in the treatment
of autism.
Furthermore, we mention the importance of
educational robotics, a method that allows
children to learn thanks to robots. It uses a
simple and practical approach to robotics,
robot operation, computer programming,
visual coding and learning technical subjects
such as science and math. Educational robotics
is also a method to study STEM subjects
(Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics) in a practical and fun way, and
learn to use logic and solve problems of
increasing difficulty that can be formalized
(such as a recipe for example), thus forming a
computational thinking, which is also one of
the objectives of coding. Students with autism
prefer this type of problem- solving, where
their ability to organize large amounts of data
and build reliable structures is useful and
produces predictable results
The aim of the research project Sugar, Salt & Pepper - Humanoid robotics for autism envisions the use of the Pepper robot in a therapeutic laboratory on autonomy to promote functional acquisitions in children diagnosed with high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder / Asperger's syndrome (Level 1 of support according to DSM 5).
We would like also to test the exchanges and interactions of the child with autism in rehabilitation contexts (work on language / communication, on emotions, social skills training, etc.) with the robot to help the operators (psychologists, educators, speech therapists, etc.).
Another objective of the project is to provide young participants with a space within which they can increase their mutual communication and socialization skills (sharing interests, creating friendly bonds, etc.) and strengthening their acquisition of strategies and processes related to daily activities, as snack preparation, kitchen use, school material management, etc., with the aid of the Pepper robot, configured as a highly motivating and scalable tool (also depending on of the user’s needs that will be acquired and recorded during the activities and strictly linked to the answers provided by the users and their successful/unsuccessful activities).
Furthermore, we are interested in the collecting and analysing environmental and interpersonal data that can often escape subjective observation but which allow to better outline and deepen the functioning profile of the autistic subject (eye contact, number of communication initiatives, number of requests for help, interpersonal distances, sharing and emotional awareness, etc).
From an computer science point of view, one of the innovative aspects of the research lies in the use of PEPPER together with an external emotion recognition software and a gaze and motion tracker, in order to indirectly analyze the reactions of children to which the robot will be able to adapt. A further innovative aspect concerns the adaptive mechanisms with which PEPPER will be enriched. The robot will show more and more intelligence and reasoning skills, which will allow it to adapt according to the user's needs and customize the interaction to the specific needs of the subject in both adaptive and adaptable form. Thus the robot will become an adaptive robot with respect to the user, able to adapt its behavior based on the characteristics of the subject with whom it is interacting and to customize the interaction in an adaptive form, that is, configurable by the staff expert in therapy.
In term of expected results we expect the following ones at the end of the experimentation: ● Positive evaluation in terms of perceived experience (user experience and user acceptance) by the participants ● Consolidation or development of effective communication and social strategies ● Consolidation or learning of diversified procedural strategies in a laboratory context ● Transfer of skills learned in life and family contexts ● Collection and analysis of personal and environmental data ● Study and analysis in a real and longitudinal context (in the wild evaluation) of a child-robot application, in the research field of social and assistive robotics ● Study and analysis and refinement of adaptive strategies based on affective computing and biometrics (emotions, gaze, gestures, etc.) ● Study and analysis of end-user development interfaces for robot programming and behavior
This project has been funded by Intesa Sanpaolo Bank - Bank of the Territories Division.