Robot-mediated intervention can assist children with autism to develop visual perspective taking skills

Abstract

In this work, we tested a recently developed novel methodology to assist children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) improve their Visual Perspective Taking (VPT) and Theory of Mind (ToM) skills using the humanoid robot Kaspar. VPT is the ability to see the world from another person’s perspective, drawing upon both social and spatial information. Children with ASD often find it difficult to understand that others might have perspectives, viewpoints and beliefs that are different from their own, which is a fundamental aspect of both VPT and ToM. The games we designed were implemented as the first attempt to study if these skills can be improved in children with ASD through interacting with a humanoid robot in a series of trials. The games involved a number of different actions with the common goal of helping the children to see the world from the robot’s perspective. Children with ASD were recruited to the study according to specific inclusion criteria that were determined in a previous pilot study. In order to measure the potential impact of the games on the children, three pre- and post-tests (Smarties, Sally–Anne and Charlie tests) were conducted with the children. Our findings suggest that children with ASD can indeed benefit from this approach of robot-assisted therapy.

Keywords

• visual perspective taking
• theory of mind
• assistive robotics
• autism
• human–robot interaction