The Power of Memes: The Pepper Robot as a Communicative Aid for Autistic Children - Conclusion

Table of Links

Introduction

The Project

Memes

Conclusion and References

CONCLUSION

The analysis of the interactions and dialogues that took place during the therapeutic laboratory for autonomies endorsed with the inclusion of the Pepper robot provided an interesting perspective on the communication dynamics of children in the lab.

The results obtained showed the effectiveness of the robot in promoting autonomy and functional acquisition, demonstrating that the therapeutic method based on assistive robotics is a valuable resource to support the rehabilitation needs of communication and social skills of autistic children. The analysis highlights new possibilities for their engagement and active participation as a co-designer, as we already experienced in the past with neuro-typical children [19], representing an innovative opportunity to promote the development and wellness of autistic people and opening to new perspectives for therapeutic intervention more aware of the needs of autistic minds.

In conclusion, this paper highlights the need to provide the robot with the ability of adapt to the children’s peculiarity and features and sharing her/his vocabulary, especially by recognizing and using memes during interactions, to inspire greater trust in children and allowing the use of common slang, already in use with classmates, allowing them to consider Pepper a peer and effectively insert it in the role of mediator. In addition, it would allow children to use a simplified type of communication during meetings to compensate for the typical communication deficits associated with autism spectrum disorders.

In the future we will work in this directions (co-design, user’s adaptations, using and recognizing memes during children-robot communication) having the robot able to communicate and express adapting to user tastes and preferences and and try again to field a real-world evaluation that takes into account the effectiveness of different levels of user adaptation [23].

REFERENCE

[1] M. Biondi e M. Maj, DSM-5: diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: text revision, 5. ed. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.

[2] E. Hollander, R. Hagerman, e C. Ferretti, Textbook of Autism Spectrum Disorders, Second Edition. American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2022.

[3] ISS - Istituto superiore di sanità, «Osservatorio Nazionale Autismo», OssNA. https://osservatorionazionaleautismo.iss.it

[4] P. Pennisi et al., «Autism and social robotics: A systematic review», Autism Research, vol. 9, fasc. 2, pp. 165–183, 2016, doi: 10.1002/aur.1527.

[5] S. Shamsuddin, H. Yussof, S. Mohamed, e F. A. Hanapiah, «Design and Ethical Concerns in Robotic Adjunct Therapy Protocols for Children with Autism», Procedia Computer Science, vol. 42, pp. 9–16, gen. 2014, doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2014.11.027.

[6] K. Dautenhahn e I. Werry, «Towards Interactive Robots in Autism Therapy: Background, Motivation and Challenges», Pragmatics & Cognition, vol. 12, pp. 1–35, giu. 2004, doi: 10.1075/pc.12.1.03dau.

[7] C. Li, Q. Jia, e Y. Feng, «Human-Robot Interactoin Design for Robot-Assisted Intervention for Children with Autism Based on E-S Theory», in 2016 8th International Conference on Intelligent Human-Machine Systems and Cybernetics (IHMSC), Hangzhou, China: IEEE, ago. 2016, pp. 320–324. doi: 10.1109/IHMSC.2016.103.

[8] A. Peca et al., «Robot Enhanced Therapy for Children with Autism Disorders: Measuring Ethical Acceptability», IEEE Technol. Soc. Mag., vol. 35, fasc. 2, pp. 54–66, giu. 2016, doi: 10.1109/MTS.2016.2554701.

[9] B. Robins, K. Dautenhahn, e J. Dubowski, «Does appearance matter in the interaction of children with autism with a humanoid robot?», IS, vol. 7, fasc. 3, pp. 479–512, nov. 2006, doi:10.1075/is.7.3.16rob.

[10] E. S. Kim, «Robots for social skills therapy in autism: evidence and designs toward clinical utility», 2013, doi: 10.13140/2.1.3038.2083.

[11] «Autismo», Neuraxpharm Italia. https://www.neuraxpharm.com/it/disordini/autismo

[12] L. Hull, K. V. Petrides, e W. Mandy, «The Female Autism Phenotype and Camouflaging: a Narrative Review», Rev J Autism Dev Disord, vol. 7, fasc. 4, pp. 306–317, dic. 2020, doi: 10.1007/s40489-020-00197-9.

[13] D. Cohen et al., «NAO, a humanoid robot as a therapeutic mediator for young people with autism».

[14] Cristina Gena, Claudio Mattutino, Andrea Maieli, Elisabetta Miraglio, Giulia Ricciardiello, Rossana Damiano, Alessandro Mazzei: Autistic Children's Mental Model of an Humanoid Robot. UMAP (Adjunct Publication) 2021: 128-129

[15] Rossana Damiano, Cristina Gena, Andrea Maieli, Claudio Mattutino, Alessandro Mazzei, Elisabetta Miraglio, Giulia Ricciardiello: UX Personas for Defining Robot's Character and Personality 213-216. IUI Workshops 2022: 213-216.

[16] Cristina Gena, Claudio Mattutino, Stefania Brighenti, Andrea Meirone, Francesco Petriglia, Loredana Mazzotta, Federica Liscio, Matteo Nazzario, Valeria Ricci, Camilla Quarato, Cesare Pecone, Giuseppe Piccinni: et al., Sugar, Salt & Pepper - Humanoid robotics for autism, in Joint Proceedings of the ACM IUI 2021 Workshops co-located with 26th ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (ACM IUI 2021), College Station, United States, April 13-17, 2021, D. Glowacka e V. R. Krishnamurthy, A c. di, in CEUR Workshop Proceedings, vol. 2903. CEUR-WS.org, 2021.

[17] Cristina Gena, Rossana Damiano, Claudio Mattutino, Alessandro Mazzei, Andrea Meirone, Loredana Mazzotta, Matteo Nazzario, Valeria Ricci, Stefania Brighenti, Federica Liscio, Francesco Petriglia: Preliminary results of a therapeutic lab for promoting autonomies in autistic children. arXiv, doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2305.02982.

[18] B. C. Carbo, «The Use of Social Stories with Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders», University of Delaware ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, Newark, DE, 2005. [Online]. Disponibile su: https://udspace.udel.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/cd5e8850-e57c-41d2-a7b4ac5e25a4b659/content

[19] V. Cietto, C. Gena, I. Lombardi, C. Mattutino and C. Vaudano, "Co-designing with kids an educational robot," 2018 IEEE Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts (ARSO), Genova, Italy, 2018, pp. 139-140, doi: 10.1109/ARSO.2018.8625810.

[20] A. Mousa, «Sherry Turkle, Reclaiming Conversation. The Power of Talk in a Digital Age», Questions de communication, fasc. 34, Art. fasc. 34, dic. 2018, doi:10.4000/questionsdecommunication.16891.

[21] H.-M. Chiang e M. Carter, «Spontaneity of Communication in Individuals with Autism», J Autism Dev Disord, vol. 38, fasc. 4, pp. 693–705, apr. 2008, doi: 10.1007/s10803-007-0436-7.

[22] Gena, C., Cena, F., Vernero, F., Grillo, P. The evaluation of a social adaptive website for cultural events. User Model User-Adap Inter 23, 89–137 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11257-012-9129-9

[23] Gena, Cristina, and Ilaria Torre. "The importance of adaptivity to provide onboard services: A preliminary evaluation of an adaptive tourist information service onboard vehicles." Applied Artificial Intelligence 18.6 (2004): 549-580.