The power of suggestion

Abstract

We present a preliminary implementation of a robot within the context of social skills intervention. The robot engages a human user in an interactive and adaptive game-playing session that emphasizes a specific sequence of movements over time. Such games highlight joint attention and encourage forms of interaction that are useful within various assistive domains. Noteworthy robot activities include those that could be used to promote social cues in children with autism, sequences that maintain or improve memory in Alzheimer's patients, and movements that encourage exercises to increase range of motion in post-stroke rehabilitation.