For the very first time, researchers at the university of Hertfordshire have stKaspar Robotarted working on a robot which will help children facing Autism, enhance their communication skills and will teach them how to interact publicly. This work forms a part of their project which includes inquiring about how teaching through robots can become a helping tool in dealing with autistic children.

Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder which is characterized by  improper functioning of  brain because of which the autistic children  lack the ability to sense anything and to react according to the situation. To deal with such cases, researchers have come up with an approach in which they will work on a robot named Kaspar, a humanoid robot brought up by the Adaptive System Research group at the University.

The robot’s body is to be covered with an artificial skin to which tactile sensors will be fixed. These tactile sensors have an ability to sense and analyze the intensity of touch. Since, touch forms a primary and necessary part of communication, with the help of these tactile sensors, accompanied by some newly developed sensor technologies, the physical behavior of the children can be analyzed and they can be taught in the same way.

The intervention of artificial-skinned robot, embedded with newer technologies and methodologies, when brought into being, is expected to procure the personal behavior of autistic children including their basic communication and interaction skills.

Source: Science Daily , Image By:  Gizmo Watch.