Investigating the use of a mobile robotic toy as an imitation agent for children with autism

Abstract

Unpredictability and complexity of social interactions are important challenges for a low functioning autistic child. The objective of this research is to explore if a mobile robot could, by being more predictable, attractive and simple, facilitate reciprocal interaction such as imitation. By conducting an exploratory study involving four children, we found that forms of share conventions such as imitation of body movements and of familiar actions are higher with two children paired with a human mediator, compared to two children paired with a robot mediator. The two children paired with the robot mediator demonstrate better shared attention (visual contact, physical proximity) and imitate facial expressions more than the children paired with the human mediator. 1