A synergy between a humanoid robot and a personal mobile device as a novel intervention tool for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

A synergy between a humanoid robot and a personal mobile device as a novel intervention tool for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (SMART) ContextAutism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how people perceive the world and interact with others. Approximately 7.5 million European citizens are affected by autism. There is no 'cure' for this condition but there is a range of interventions for enhancing the learning and development of the social skills of children with autism, because enhancing the social competence is crucial for the long-term socialization prospects of these children. Lately, the scientific community has come forward with encouraging results from the use of Socially Assisted Robots in supporting the social and emotional development of children with autism in overcoming the communication deficits to other people as well as between the child and the therapist. The use of the Socially Assisted Robots in therapeutic purposes is in early stage. The costs and the limited availability of this technology call for search for an easily accessible alternative complementing the effects of the intervention with the use of Socially Assisted Robots. ObjectivesThe project partners bearing multi-year experience of working with children with autism and socially assisted technology proposed the implementation of this feasibility study in order to test the proof of concept in using humanoid robot KASPAR in conjunction with complementary Apps for personal mobile devices as a novel intervention tool for provision of assistance to the therapists during the intervention and to the child beyond the intervention, on overcoming interaction difficulties and stimulating social interaction skills in children with autism. Number and profile of participantsA group of 20 with diagnosis on autism from North Macedonia and Croatia, their parents and their therapists were the principle participants to this project. Project partners were:- University Children's Hospital (Skopje, North Macedonia)- Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences (Zagreb, Croatia)- Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, UKIM (Skopje, North Macedonia)- The University of Hertfordshire (Hatfield, UK)- Beit Issie Shapiro - Amutat Avi (Ra'anana, (Israel) ActivitiesThe project activities involved:- review of the ongoing and previous efforts in the field of socially assisted technology- selection of participating children and introduction to the individual characteristics of each child- finding out the expectations and experience of the parents and the therapists- setting up tools for measuring and evaluating of project's results- creating robot software scenarios for KASPAR- creating complementary Apps for personal mobile devices- testing the effects from their use through interaction with the children in clinical, educational and home settings- multiplier events, transnational meetings and training activities- writing and publishing scientific papers. The project partners carried out the activities respecting each other's competences and dully executing allocated assignments. MethodologyThis project was based on strategic partnership, collaboration and action-based methodology. This methodology empowered the project's impact that was transferred on practical ‘real world’ outcomes. Monitoring and assessment was based on observation and analysis of the effectiveness from the intervention involving a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches in data provision and analysis. Results and potential longer term benefitsWe have developed and used a set of approximately 10 different robot's play scenarios. Each play scenario or game, was associated to a particular aspect of the intervention, targeting and supporting the development of children's abilities through interactions with the robot Kaspar and complementary app. Scenarios were developed as collaborative effort of all project partners. Kaspar turned out to be a very engaging tool for children with autism. Out of 20 children, only five did not fully engaged in the sessions. They were not interested and ignoring him and only responding on some of the games they found very appealing. The results showed that using Kaspar in therapy process led to improvement in almost all developmental domains: Communication functions and means; Gaze shift & eye contact; Turn taking; Imitation; Language; Play; Attention; Daily life skills. Developmental domains where no progress has been made are Vocalization and speech, Cause and effect, and Coping skills. As of the usefulness of the Kaspar app, majority of the parents reported it was user friendly for them as well as for their children. They found it simple, clear, fun, and they thought that the visual organization of information and video quality were good and the system speed satisfactory. In conclusion, the project results are satisfactory, certain areas for improvement have been identified.