UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE
		 COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH COLLOQUIUM


    "A Humanoid Robot as Assistive Technology for Encouraging
      Social Interaction Skills in Children with Autism"

			      Ben Robins
		       School of Computer Science
		       University of Hertfordshire

			19 October 2005 (Wednesday)

			  Lecture Theatre E350
		       Hatfield, College Lane Campus
			       3 - 4 pm

	       Coffee/tea and biscuits will be available.
			 [Catering Permitting]

		    Everyone is Welcome to Attend
			  [Space Permitting]


Abstract:

Interactive robots, virtual environments and other computer based
technologies are increasingly applied in rehabilitation, therapy and
education.  The research presented in this talk investigates the potential
use of a humanoid robot as assistive technology for encouraging social
interaction skills specifically in children with autism. The research
focuses on ways in which the humanoid robot can engage autistic children
in simple interactive activities such as turn-taking and imitation games,
and how the robot can assume the role of social mediator, encouraging
the children to interact with the robot, with each other and with
co-present adults.  The research also investigates which robot design
(in terms of appearance)  best facilitates these interactions.

Based on the video material documenting the interactions, several
quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted. Qualitative
analyses in the form of case-study evaluations of segments of trials are
presented, observing the children.s activities in their interactional
context. The analyses revealed aspects of social interaction skills
(such as imitation, turn-taking, role-switch, body-orientation) and
communicative competence that the children showed, in a spontaneous,
proactive and playful interactions. The results show how children
exhibited interaction skills where the robot, assuming the role of a
social mediator, served as a salient object mediating joint attention
with other people (adults and children).

This work has been published in several journals and in proceedings of
international conferences. The papers that were presented at IEEE RO-MAN
2004, Kurashki, Japan  and at CWUAAT 2004, Cambridge, UK won the best
formal paper awards at these conferences. A full list of publications
can be found at http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~comqbr/

This work  was carried out in the Adaptive Systems Research Group as part
of my PhD research, under the principal supervision of Prof K. Dautenhahn.


--
Hertfordshire Computer Science Research Colloquium
http://homepages.feis.herts.ac.uk/~nehaniv/colloq