Exploring the Potential of Social Robots for Speech and Language Therapy: A Review and Analysis of Interactive Scenarios

Abstract

The use of innovative technology in the field of Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) has gained significant attention nowadays. Despite being a promising research area, Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) have not been thoroughly studied and used in SLT. This paper makes two main contributions: firstly, providing a comprehensive review of existing research on the use of SARs to enhance communication skills in children and adolescents. Secondly, organizing the information into tables that categorize the interactive play scenarios described in the surveyed papers. The inclusion criteria for play scenarios in the tables are based only on their effectiveness for SLT proven by experimental findings. The data, systematically presented in a table format, allow readers to easily find relevant information based on various factors, such as disorder type, age, treatment technique, robot type, etc. The study concludes that the despite limited research on the use of social robots for children and adolescents with communication disorders (CD), promising outcomes have been reported. The authors discuss the methodological, technical, and ethical limitations related to the use of SARs for SLT in clinical or home environments, as well as the huge potential of conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a secondary assistive technology to facilitate speech and language interventions.

A social robot connected with chatGPT to improve cognitive functioning in ASD subjects

“…The outlined tasks for each professional ensure a comprehensive approach to the educational and developmental needs of individuals with ASD, especially for language related issues (Georgieva-Tsaneva et al, 2023 ). Through collaboration and clear role delineation, the team can maximize the potential of robot-assisted sessions integrated with advanced conversational AI.…”

Media Literacy and Assistive Technologies for Empowerment in Autism

“…One of the challenges during the sessions was that the children, especially those with ASD, had difficulties initiating, maintaining joint attention, and interacting with their interlocutor (Andreeva et al, 2022). After employing NAO in speech therapy, the project team found out that there was a necessity to broaden the communication environment between children and robots, so this is a perspective for future work with NAO (Georgieva-Tsaneva et al, 2023).…”

“…Based on a comprehensive review, done by the scientists from the Institute of Robotics and other academic organisations, it has been found that there is an increasing number of studies that have documented encouraging outcomes in the implementation of SARs in the context of speech and language therapy (Georgieva-Tsaneva et al, 2023). Both the kids and the parents have enjoyed playing games and doing activities with the robots, which has motivated them to continue the sessions with SARs' help.…”