Tactile interaction with a humanoid robot for children with autism: A case study analysis involving user requirements and results of an initial implementation

Abstract

Abstract-The work presented in this paper is part of our investigation in the ROBOSKIN project. The project aims to develop and demonstrate a range of new robot capabilities based on the tactile feedback provided by a robotic skin. One of the project's objectives is to improve human-robot interaction capabilities in the application domain of robot-assisted play. This paper presents design challenges in augmenting a humanoid robot with tactile sensors specifically for interaction with children with autism. It reports on a preliminary study that includes requirements analysis based on a case study evaluation of interactions of children with autism with the child-sized, minimally expressive robot KASPAR. This is followed by the implementation of initial sensory capabilities on the robot that were then used in experimental investigations of tactile interaction with children with autism.

Tactile Interactions with a Humanoid Robot: Novel Play Scenario Implementations with Children with Autism

“…Precursor studies which were carried out by the authors to elicit high level requirements for skin based interaction for these children were reported in [36]. This was followed by a series of preliminary experimental investigations with initial play scenarios that were conducted with children with autism and the robot KAS-PAR, providing essential observational data on children's behaviour during child-robot tactile interaction which were reported in [37,38]. These precursor studies provided valuable input to the development of the tactile play scenarios reported here.…”

A Pilot Study with a Novel Setup for Collaborative Play of the Humanoid Robot KASPAR with Children with Autism

“…Secondly, the abovementioned earlier studies examined how children with autism interacted and played in open-ended, exploratory settings with robots. According to Parten's research on play [40], we can classify some of the forms of play in these studies as parallel (two children with autism play in their own ways with the same robot at the same time, either without acknowledging each other or by acknowledgment without communication [48,65]), some as associative (a child with autism imitates a robot and communicates with its human adult controller [29,[46][47][48][49]), and on a few occasions, cooperative (two high-functioning children with autism spontaneously interact and communicate to organize a game together with a reactive robot [65], or a child with autism plays a two-player game with an experimenter while interacting minimally with them [29]). In these studies as well as others, there have been few cases of the children participating in cooperative play.…”

Extending the reach of social touch through haptic technology

“…One such behavior is social touch, with which people with autism are generally uncomfortable [53]. Using a relatively non-threatening social robot has been proposed as a way to teach children with autism about social touch, in order to make them more comfortable with touch [423]. In two explorative studies, children with autism were allowed to interact freely with a child-like robot that had touch sensors embedded in its skin [422,423].…”

“…Using a relatively non-threatening social robot has been proposed as a way to teach children with autism about social touch, in order to make them more comfortable with touch [423]. In two explorative studies, children with autism were allowed to interact freely with a child-like robot that had touch sensors embedded in its skin [422,423]. The children were observed to touch the robot on different body locations, such as its hands, wrists, and face, and the children were found to use different types of touch, including grasping, poking, and stroking [422,423].…”

“…In two explorative studies, children with autism were allowed to interact freely with a child-like robot that had touch sensors embedded in its skin [422,423]. The children were observed to touch the robot on different body locations, such as its hands, wrists, and face, and the children were found to use different types of touch, including grasping, poking, and stroking [422,423]. These studies show, at the least, that children with autism have a propensity to touch a social robot, which in itself may be a new and useful way for them to express themselves.…”