BabyRobot: Child-Robot Communication and Collaboration

The main goal of the BabyRobot project is to create robots that analyze and track human behavior over time in the context of their surroundings (situational) using audio-visual monitoring in order to establish common ground and intention-reading capabilities. BabyRobot focuses on both typically developing (TD) children and those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as the user population. Children have unique communication skills and are quick and adaptive learners, eager to embrace new robotic technologies. This is especially relevant for special education where the development of social skills is delayed or never fully develops without intervention or therapy. Thus, one of the other goals of the project is to define, implement, and evaluate child–robot interaction application scenarios for developing specific socio-affective, communication, and collaboration skills in TD children and those with ASD.