Kaspar the friendly robot: autistic kids in Britain learn emotions from robot

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Kaspar the Friendly Robot Helps Autistic Kids

Kaspar the friendly robot: autistic kids in Britain learn emotions from robot

Eden Sawczenko used to recoil when other little

girls held her hand and turned stiff when they

hugged her. This year, the 4-year-old autistic girl

began playing with a robot that teaches about

emotions and physical contact — and now she hugs

everyone.

" She's a lot more affectionate with her friends now and

will even initiate the embrace, " said Sawczenko,

Eden's mother.

The girl attends a pre-school for autistic children in

age, north of London, where researchers bring

in a human-looking, child-sized robot once a week

for a supervised session. The children, whose autism

ranges from mild to severe, play with the robot for up

to 10 minutes alongside a scientist who controls the

robot with a remote control.

The robot, named Kaspar, is programmed to do

things like smile, frown, laugh, blink and wave his

arms. He has shaggy black hair, a baseball cap, a few

wires protruding from his neck, and striped red

socks. He was built by scientists at the University of

Hertfordshire at a cost of about 1,300 pounds

(US$2,118).

There are several versions of Kaspar, including one

advanced enough to play Nintendo Wii. The robot's

still in the experimental stage, and researchers hope

he could be mass-produced one day for a few

hundred dollars.

" Children with autism don't react well to people

because they don't understand facial expressions, "

said Ben Robins, a senior research fellow in computer

science at the University of Hertfordshire who

specializes in working with autistic children.

" Robots are much safer for them because there's less

for them to interpret and they are very predictable. "

There are similar projects in Canada, Japan and the U.

S., but the British one is the most advanced according

to other European robot researchers not connected

with the project.

Kaspar outright.

The school also uses speech and music therapy. " You

can't teach children to speak or play using a robot,

but it helps reinforce what we're teaching them

already, like how to share and be nice to people, "

Cannon- said.

Experts not linked to the project said it was a

promising idea.

" Autistic children like things that are made up of

different parts, like a robot, so they may process what

the robot does more easily than a real person, " said

Dr. Abigail San, a childhood clinical psychologist in

London and spokeswoman for the British

Psychological Society.

She thought it was possible that skills children

learned with the robot at the pre-school could be

transferred to their homes or the playground. But San

warned that experts and parents shouldn't rely on

robots too much. " We don't want children with autism

to get too used to playing with robots, " she said.

" Ultimately, they need to be able to relate to other

people. "

Kerstin Dautenhahn, the senior researcher at the

University of Hertfordshire behind the Kaspar project,

said she and colleagues don't have enough data to

know if playing with Kaspar has sped up social skills

in autistic children. They have published case studies

describing improvements in up to a dozen children

but no long-term trials.

Researchers say prospects for a comprehensive study

depend on funding and teacher-parent participation,

since they would have to track the kids for years —

but they would like to carry one out.

She said it might also be possible to modify Kaspar to

help children with other developmental problems, like

Down syndrome.

Uta Frith, an emeritus professor of cognitive

development at University College London, said the

robot was valuable in providing children with social

interactions, but doubted a machine was necessary.

" What's important for autistic kids is that they learn

how to play imaginatively, " she said. " And for that,

you could use cooking pots or a shoe box. "

But Eden Sawczenko's mom says Kaspar's weekly visits

seem to be helping.

" Before, Eden would make a smiley face no matter what

emotion you asked her to show, " she said. " But now

she is starting to put the right emotion with the right

Scientists at the University of Hertfordshire first began

using a version of Kaspar in 1998. The newest model

is covered in silicone patches that feel like skin to

help children become more comfortable with

touching people. So far, almost 300 kids in Britain

with autism, a disorder that affects development of

social interaction and communication, have played

with a Kaspar robot as part of scientific research.

The robot has only a handful of tricks, like saying

" Hello, my name is Kaspar. Let's play together, "

laughing when his sides or feet are touched, raising

his arms up and down, or hiding his face with his

hands and crying out " Ouch. This hurts, " when he's

slapped too hard.

But that is enough to keep autistic children

enthralled. Ronnie Arloff, 4, was so eager to see

Kaspar he banged on the door and shouted his name.

Arloff opened his arms wide just like the robot. He

also recognized facial expressions, saying " happy "

when Kaspar was smiling and " sad " when he frowned.

Nan Cannon-, an autism consultant at the

school, said the robot helps children understand

emotions and language. " After Kaspar says 'haha'

when he's tickled, the children learn that's what

laughing is, " she said. Two of the 12 to 17 kids who

attend the pre-school have refused to play with

face. That's really nice to see. "

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Online:

http://www.roboskin.eu/

http://kaspar.feis.herts.ac.uk/