Two Ryerson University professors are in the early stages of a research project which aims to use human-robot interaction to learn about the speech patterns of children with autism.
The robots, known as NAOs, are manufactured by Aldebaran Robotics. Standing at just 58 centimetres tall, the robots can walk, talk, listen, recognize faces, and perform tasks on command. The NAO is advertised on Aldebaran’s website as “the little creature who helps you be your best.”
Two small humanoid robots, capable of recognizing facial expressions, acting out emotions, and responding to voice commands, have been enlisted to play and talk with children on the autism spectrum in hopes the children will be more comfortable speaking with the robots than with people.
The study was conceived by Stéphanie Walsh Matthews, director of the arts and contemporary studies program at Ryerson, who said her idea came from the “notions of strangeness and otherness” surrounding robots, and her interest in “artificial intelligence and the imitation of humanness.”
She said a colleague who worked in robotics asked her how those notions could fit into the field of human-robot interaction. It is well documented, Walsh Matthews said, that some people on the autism spectrum find it far easier to connect with robots than with people.
Coupled with Walsh Matthews’ and colleague Dr. Jamin Pelkey’s academic backgrounds in language and communication, she said this spurred the thought that perhaps children with autism might have an easier time communicating with artificial intelligence.
Walsh Matthews said some concerns were raised over children potentially choosing robot interaction over interaction with other humans, but that they have so far proved baseless. Data has indicated that children are 30 per cent more likely to interact with other people after first interacting with the NAO robots.
The study has already seen substantial speech progress in the children tested. Participation is open to children in the care of a particular therapist, but beyond that the criteria are broad: the children must be diagnosed with any autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and must already be capable of making verbal “utterances” to some extent.
“Even two-word sentences or three-word sentences are more than enough,” Walsh Matthews said.
In fact, she said there have already been a few children who were barely verbal on arrival and who have since progressed to longer sentences.
Walsh Matthews said their research does not seek to prove any specific point about the speech patterns of children with autism but that the goal right now is to let the information speak for itself. She said the decision not to narrow the study to any particular subset of children with in the autism spectrum was deliberate.
“The more variants we have, the better it is for us,” she said. “We’re really at the start of a project—we have made no conclusions whatsoever.”
