Project INSIDE: towards autonomous semi-unstructured human-robot social interaction in autism therapy.

Journal: Artificial intelligence in medicine
Published Date: Dec 28, 2018

Abstract

This paper describes the INSIDE system, a networked robot system designed to allow the use of mobile robots as active players in the therapy of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). While a significant volume of work has explored the impact of robots in ASD therapy, most such work comprises remotely operated robots and/or well-structured interaction dynamics. In contrast, the INSIDE system allows for complex, semi-unstructured interaction in ASD therapy while featuring a fully autonomous robot. In this paper we describe the hardware and software infrastructure that supports such rich form of interaction, as well as the design methodology that guided the development of the INSIDE system. We also present some results on the use of our system both in pilot and in a long-term study comprising multiple therapy sessions with children at Hospital Garcia de Orta, in Portugal, highlighting the robustness and autonomy of the system as a whole.

Authors

  • Francisco S Melo
    INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal; Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: fmelo@inesc-id.pt.
  • Alberto Sardinha
    INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal; Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • David Belo
    LIBPhys (Laboratory for Instrumentation, Biomedical Engineering and Radiation Physics), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal. dj.belo@fct.unl.pt.
  • Marta Couto
    Hospital Garcia de Orta, Almada, Portugal.
  • Miguel Faria
    INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal; Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Anabela Farias
    Hospital Garcia de Orta, Almada, Portugal.
  • Hugo Gamboa
    LIBPhys-UNL, Departamento de Física, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal.
  • Cátia Jesus
    Hospital Garcia de Orta, Almada, Portugal.
  • Mithun Kinarullathil
    Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Pedro Lima
    Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Luís Luz
    Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • André Mateus
    Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Isabel Melo
    Hospital Garcia de Orta, Almada, Portugal.
  • Plinio Moreno
    Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Daniel Osório
    LIBPhys, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal.
  • Ana Paiva
    INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal; Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Jhielson Pimentel
    Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • João Rodrigues
    LIBPhys (Laboratory for Instrumentation, Biomedical Engineering and Radiation Physics), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516, Caparica, Portugal.
  • Pedro Sequeira
    Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
  • Rubén Solera-Ureña
    INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Miguel Vasco
    INESC-ID, Lisbon, Portugal; Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
  • Manuela Veloso
  • Rodrigo Ventura
    Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Keywords

External Resources

Popular Topics
Recent Journals