Social and communication skills are something that most people take for granted, but for autistic children, developing these skills might be an uphill struggle. Now, a robot named Kaspar, has come to their aid. Developed under the leadership of Dr Ben Robins, the robot incorporates cutting-edge robotics, enabling children to practise everyday interactions. Since the possibility of using robotics to further social interactions and communication skills has hardly been investigated, the creation of the robot was mainly based on trial and error.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The interactive child-size social robot has a simple design which mainly focuses on basic expressions and movements. Kaspar facilitates uncomplicated, predictable and stress-free interactions. The plain appearance of the robot relaxes the children thus making them easily interact with it.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Kaspar’s features are human but simplified. We knew that it was important to retain the human element, as the whole purpose of the device is to improve human-to-human interactions\u2019, explains Dr Robins. He further adds, \u2018It’s also important that Kaspar is a 3D-object. This means that the child can physically explore it, and learn to make the connection between Kaspar, themselves and other people.\u2019
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kaspar is operated using a remote control that handles all its pre-programmed capabilities. This not only allows the children to control and predict both sides of the interaction but also enables two children to use Kaspar at the same time. The children can take turns to control the robot while the others copy its performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n