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KASPAR the Social robot
Summary
Play Experience by Assistive Technology for play
Devices, services & contexts for play with children with disabilities
Name of Play Experience by AT
KASPAR the Social robot
Type of project
Intervention
Finished research project
Ongoing research project
Summary
(~150 words: target group, aims, kind of activities, Play Experience by AT (devices, services and contexts) used, play experiences and results)
KASPAR the social robot. KASPAR is a child-sized humanoid robot, developed at University of Hertfordshire, U.K., as a therapeutic tool to encourage communication and social interaction skills in children with autism and other cognitive and developmental impairments. KASPAR has the ability to engage in a range of simple interactive play scenarios, such as turn-taking, imitation, shared gaze or speech related activities (e.g. talking , singing), and it has been designed to be used as a social mediator, encouraging and helping children with autism to interact and communicate with adults and other children. The KASPAR project is an ongoing research that has started in 2006. The robot has been designed to be inexpensive, with the aim of making a final model affordable to as many families and schools who might benefit as possible. Currently several KASPAR prototype robots are being deployed both in Special Education schools and in families homes. (further details can be found at http://kaspar.herts.ac.uk)
Play Experience by Assistive technology
Low-tech, high-tech products, services and contexts for play
Description, intended use(s), intended target group(s), manufacturer/developer, reference
KASPAR is a child-sized minimally expressive robot with human-like features ( e.g. face with nose , eyes mouth) that uses bodily expressions (movements of the hand, arms and facial expressions), gestures and voice to interact with people. The robot has a head that can move in all directions, face that is made from a silicon rubber mask and includes eyes that can move, eye lids that can open and shut and a mouth that can smile and capable to portray happy or sad expressions. In addition, KASPAR was mounted with several skin sensors for tactile sensing capabilities that allow the robot to respond autonomously when being touched. The robot could also be operated by a remote controlled keypad which can be used by the children that interact with it or by an accompanied adult e.g. therapist , teacher, parent etc. The robot provides an enjoyable, safe, predictable and non-judgemental play environment where children with autism and other cognitive and developmental impairments can learn through play about social interaction and communication.
Picture
Download
Context
The context of use
(home, school, rehab center or other environments)
Currently several KASPAR prototype robots are being deployed as part of the ongoing research, both in Special Education schools and in families homes. KASPAR has been designed to help teachers and parents support the children in many ways. 1) At a school context, Kaspar can be used either in a one-to-one interaction with a child or in a group settings. Kaspar can be adapted to the needs of an individual child and be used by a teacher or a therapist ( e.g. Speech and Language Therapist ) to assist the child with specific therapeutic or educational objectives. Kaspar can also be used as a social mediator, encouraging interactions between the child and other people ( peers and adults), or in a group context, with activities that compliment the work in the classroom. 2) At a family home setting the study primarily aims to evaluate a) how KASPAR can serve the role as a social mediator, encouraging interactions between the child and his/her parent/carer or other family members, siblings and friends, b) How KASPAR's play scenarios can be developed to complement the child’s daily home activities. An important aim of the studies in both these two contexts, i.e. in schools, and homes , is to evaluate if there are any observed changes in the children’s behaviours and/or social skills outside the play sessions with the robot.
Type of Play
Type of play in this play system
LUDI Classification of types of play
Cognitive Dimension
Practice
Symbolic
Constructive
Rule play (including videogames)
Social Dimension
Solitary
Parallel
Associative
Cooperative
Objectives
Objectives related to play according to ICF-CY
International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health - Children & Youth Version (ICF-CY)
Play for the sake of play
Major life areas - d880 engagement in play
d8800 solitary play
d8801 onlooker play
d8802 parallel play
d8803 shared cooperative play
d8808 engagement in play, other specified
d8809 engagement in play, unspecified
Community social and civic life - d920 recreation and leisure time
d9200 play
Play-like activities
Therapeutic and educational objectives
b1 Mental functions
b2 Sensory functions and pain
b3 Voice and speech functions
b4 Functions of cardiovascular, hematological, immunological and respiratory systems
b5 Functions of digestive, metabolic and endocrine systems
b7 Neuromusculoskeletal and movement related functions
d1 Learning and applying knowledge (learning through symbolic play, learning through pretend play)
d2 General tasks and demands
d3 Communication
d4 Mobility
d7 Interpersonal interactions and relationships
Participant
Participant(s)
Number
1-5
5-10
10-20
>20
Chronological Age
0-3 years
3-6 years
6-12 years
12-18 years
Development Age
0-3 years
3-6 years
6-12 years
12-18 years
LUDI Categories of disabilities
Mental/intellectual impairments:
mild
moderate
severe
profound
Hearing impairments
Partially hearing impaired
Deaf
Visual impairments
Partially sighted
Blind
Communication disorders (speech and language disorders)
Physical impairments
Mild
Moderate
Severe
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Multiple disabilities
Explanation
Explanation on the use of low-tech, high-tech devices, services or contexts
Explanation
No instruction, self-discovery of the participant/subject
Verbal instruction, language and communication fitting to chronological age
Verbal instruction, language and communication is adapted
Visual and/or verbal instruction with AAC (Aumentative and Alternative Communication)
Visual instruction with written language
Visual instruction with pictures or drawings
Modeling by therapist/researcher
Hand over hand: therapist/researcher leads the actions of the participant
Prompting: therapist/researcher touches the participant as a key for further actions
Guided discovery: therapist/researcher coaches the participant so s/he discovers how to use the assistive technology
Modeling by peer
Visual instruction by peer
Verbal instruction by peer
Involvement
Adult: therapist/educator/researcher
Parent or significant others
Peer with disabilities
Peer without disabilities
Role
Non-participatory observer
Participatory observer
Providing instruction
After the instruction, providing supervision during play
Achievements
Summary of achieved effects
Field studies with KASPAR and children with autism at schools, and at families' homes provided many case study examples showing possible implementation of KASPAR for therapeutic or educational objectives. These case studies show how the robot can: * helps to break the isolation * encourages the use of language, * mediates child-child or child-adult interaction, * helps children with autism manage collaborative play, * compliments the work in the classroom * provides the opportunity for basic embodied and cognitive learning, resulting in the emerging awareness of cause and effect. * help to explore basic human emotions e.g.‘happy’ and ‘sad’
References
References to the intervention or research project
Contact Person
Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn - k.dautenhahn@herts.ac.uk Dr Ben Robins - b.robins@herts.ac.uk
Website
http://kaspar.herts.ac.uk
Publication
* Paul Dickerson and Ben Robins (2015). " Looking or Spotting ". in The Palgrave Handbook of Child Mental Health . (September 2015); p59–78. Palgrave Macmillan. • Kerstin Dautenhahn, Chrystopher L. Nehaniv, Michael L. Walters, Ben Robins, Hatice Kose-Bagci, N. Assif Mirza, Michael Blow (2009) KASPAR - A Minimally Expressive Humanoid Robot for Human-Robot Interaction Research. Special Issue on "Humanoid Robots", Applied Bionics and Biomechanics 6(3): 369-397. • Ben Robins, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2014) Tactile Interactions with a Humanoid Robot - Novel Play Scenario Implementations with Children with Autism. International Journal of Social Robotics (IJSR), Vol. 6(3), pp. 397-415 . • Joshua Wainer, Ben Robins, Farshid Amirabdollahian, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2014) Using the humanoid robot KASPAR to autonomously play triadic games and facilitate collaborative play among children with autism. IEEE Transactions on Autonomous Mental Development (TAMD), Vol. 6(3) pp. 183-199 • Sandra Costa, Hagen Lehmann, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Ben Robins, Filomena Soares (2014) Using a humanoid robot to elicit body awareness and appropriate physical interaction in children with autism . International Journal of Social Robotics Publisher: Springer. • Paul Dickerson, Ben Robins, Kerstin Dautenhahn (2013) Where the action is: A conversation analytic perspective on interaction between a humanoid robot, a co-present adult and a child with an ASD. Interaction Studies 14(2), pp. 297-316. • Ben Robins, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Ester Ferrari, Gernot Kronreif, Barbara Prazak-Aram, Patrizia Marti, Iolanda Iacono, Gert Jan Gelderblom, Tanja Bernd, Francesca Caprino and Elena Laudanna (2012), Scenarios of robot-assisted play for children with cognitive and physical disabilities. Interaction Studies 13(2), pp.189-234. • Sandra Costa, Hagen Lehmann, Ben Robins, Kerstin Dauntenhahn, Filomena Soares (2013) ”Where is your nose?” - Developing body awareness skills among Children with Autism using a humanoid robot, Proc. ACHI 2013, The Sixth International conference on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, February 2013, Nice, France. (This paper won the best paper award). • Ben Robins, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Paul Dickerson, (2012) Embodiment and Cognitive Learning – Can a Humanoid Robot Help Children with Autism to Learn about Tactile Social Behaviour?, ICSR12 - International Conference on Social Robotics, October 2012, Chengdu, China • Ben Robins, Farshid Amirabdollahian, Ze Ji, Kerstin Dautenhahn ( 2010) Tactile interaction with a humanoid robot for children with autism: A case study analysis involving user requirements and results of an initial implementation. 19th IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 10) September 2010, Viareggio, Italy. • Ester Ferrari, Ben Robins and Kerstin Dautenhahn (2010) “Does it work?” A framework to evaluate the effectiveness of a robotic toy for children with special needs. 19th IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN 10) September 2010, Viareggio, Italy. • Ben Robins, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Paul Dickerson, (2009) From Isolation to Communication: A Case Study Evaluation of Robot Assisted Play for Children with Autism with a Minimally Expressive Humanoid Robot, Proc. the Second International Conferences on Advances in Computer-Human Interactions, ACHI 09, February 1-7, 2009 - Cancun, Mexico
Keywords
Keywords
Example: Robots, Virtual Games, Mobile Phone, Public Playground, Adapted Toys
Robots, Social Robot,
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