China Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Kaspar the friendly robot helps autistic kids STEVENAGE, England – Eden Sawczenko used to recoil when other little girls held her hand and turned stiff when they hugged her. This year, the 4-year-old autistic girl began playing with a robot that teaches about emotions and physical contact — and now she hugs everyone. "She's a lot more affectionate with her friends now and will even initiate the embrace," said Claire Sawczenko, Eden's mother. The girl attends a pre-school for autistic children in Stevenage, north of London, where researchers bring in a human-looking, child-sized robot once a week for a supervised session. The children, whose autism ranges from mild to severe, play with the robot for up to 10 minutes alongside a scientist who controls the robot with a remote control. The robot, named Kaspar, is programmed to do things like smile, frown, laugh, blink and wave his arms. He has shaggy black hair, a baseball cap, a few wires protruding from his neck, and striped red socks. He was built by scientists at the University of Hertfordshire at a cost of about 1,300 pounds (US$2,118). There are several versions of Kaspar, including one advanced enough to play Nintendo Wii. The robot's still in the experimental stage, and researchers hope he could be mass-produced one day for a few hundred dollars. "Children with autism don't react well to people because they don't understand facial expressions," said Ben Robins, a senior research fellow in computer science at the University of Hertfordshire who specializes in working with autistic children. "Robots are much safer for them because there's less for them to interpret and they are very predictable." There are similar projects in Canada, Japan and the U.S., but the British one is the most advanced according to other European robot researchers not connected with the project. Click on the link for the full article Whoops, wrong forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conn Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Vet Min + Incentives?? We could use a robot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgold Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 After seeing that Jeopardy and what the computer did to Jennings I say the robot should be our assistant Offensive Coordinator maybe even our franchise qb. Afterall, a computer has fast eyes.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibbsFactor Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I want him at QB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my_friend_goo Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Maybe somebody needs to arrange an intensive offseason programme for Albert Haynesworth with that Kaspar? Bet he'd be full of love come the end of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PokerPacker Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'm sorry, but that's one scary-looking doll. Especially if I were to see it start moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conn Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I'm sorry, but that's one scary-looking doll. Especially if I were to see it start moving. It is pretty damn creepy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vooskin Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 "Anyone else a little freaked out that Kaspar seems to look exactly like Michael Jackson?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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