Robot Friends for Autistic Kids From: Australian IT - 12/13/2005 By: Barbara Gengler Yale University computer science researcher Brian Scassellati believes a robot that has the ability to interact more naturally could serve as a friend for autistic children. Scassellati has been building a humanoid robot that is able to mirror the size, speed, and range of motion of a one-year-old child who suffers from autism. Although the condition compromises the way in which the child communicates and relates to others, the interactive diagnostic robot would pick up behavioral skills from humans and respond with gestures and utterances in social situations. "In the past three years we have designed and constructed the majority of the mechanical structure of the upper torso including the head, torso and arms," says Scassellati. Thus far, the social robot is able to perform basic hand-eye coordination tasks such as reaching out to touch an object, perceptual tasks including visually identifying people, and cognitive tasks such as recognizing itself in a mirror. Nonetheless, technical challenges remain in getting the robot to understand a person's tone of voice and pointing gestures. Read the entire article at: http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,17519713%5E24170%5E%5Enbv%5E24169,00.html Links: Brian Scassellati http://www.cs.yale.edu/people/scassellati.html http://cs-www.cs.yale.edu/homes/scaz/ Social robots as diagnostic and therapeutic devices for children with autism http://cs-www.cs.yale.edu/homes/scaz/research.html Humanoid Robotics Group Publications http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/humanoid-robotics-group/publications.html Learning about the Self and Others Through Contingency http://gundam.cs.yale.edu/KGoldDevRob05.pdf Advances in robotics may help treat autism http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051129/HEALTH/511290305/-1/NEWS01 Social robots could help diagnose and treat autistic children http://breakingnewsblog.com/robotics/archives/social_robots_could_help_diagnose_and_treat_autistic_children/ Nico, The Social Robot Helps Diagnose Autism http://www.autismtoday.com/articles/Nico.asp?whichpage=7&pagesize=5&sqlQuery=SELECT+%2A+from+items+WHERE+itm%5Fcategory%3D1+order+by+itm%5Ftitle