New diagnostic tool!Robotic doctor could help treat children with autism

OFweekrobotExperts from all over the world have discovered that the robot Nao can help treat children with autism beyond the capabilities of doctors. By interacting with Robots, children with autism can improve their ability to communicate with people and understand the instructions to wait and take turns. By scanning the facial expressions and body movements of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Nao will assess and choose the most effective way to capture the child’s attention. This can help doctors develop a personalized treatment plan.

The robot, invented by the French company Aldebaran, is expected to be used as a diagnostic tool in the future by collecting big data.

who created it?

The project, which was launched two years ago by researchers at the University of Portsmouth, has cost £5.9 million so far and is still in the pilot phase. But they believe that by 2019, the project will be sold by a broad market.

Participant Professor Honghai Liu is very confident in this emerging treatment. He said: “The robot is expected to effectively assess the behavior of children with autism, and infer their psychological activities, so as to choose effective treatment measures.”

Research status

The team is currently collecting data from children to let the robot understand what they will do next. The robot will then sort this information so it can treat them more effectively.

However, in the final stages of the study, the robot must successfully analyze and treat 40 children with autism before it can be brought to market.

Children with autism prefer to interact with robots

Studies have shown that children with autism prefer to be in contact with robots. Because the robot behaves simply. Humans have a variety of facial expressions, which are very complex.

Other therapeutic robots

There are other therapeutic robots on the market, but they all require a doctor to remotely control and consume a lot of manpower and material resources. This is the pain point of current treatments. Prof Liu added: “As a lot of manpower is required for treatment, assisting doctors with robots is a very effective and important tool.”