Robot-Based Autism Therapy

This project aims to develop and utilize humanoid robots for analyzing behavior principles of children with ASDs and go beyond simple goals of using robots as a neat toy to make kids smile or maybe even engage in joint attention. Our goal is to use the robotic technology as co-robot to interpret behavior, determine if behavior is appropriate, provide feedback on different behavior, provide adaptation on for behavior therapy progress, and reward if behavior is improved towards therapeutic goals. We use Nao and Zeno, two commercially available humanoid robots and develop the necessary features such as facial expressions recognition, speech processing, and multi-modal feedback system for automatic interventions with children with ASDs. Families who would like to participate in this project can find information here.

For more information on the Nao and Zeno humanoid robots, follow this link.