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49 results on '"de Beir, Albert"'

2. A platform-independent robot control architecture for multiple therapeutic scenarios

Author

Cao, Hoang-Long, Esteban, Pablo Gomez, De Beir, Albert, Simut, Ramona, Van De Perre, Greet, and Vanderborght, Bram

Subjects
Computer Science - Robotics
Abstract

While social robots are developed to provide assistance to users through social interactions, their behaviors are dominantly pre-programmed and remote-controlled. Despite the numerous robot control architectures being developed, very few offer reutilization opportunities in various therapeutic contexts. To bridge this gap, we propose a robot control architecture to be applied in different scenarios taking into account requirements from both therapeutic and robotic perspectives. As robot behaviors are kept at an abstract level and afterward mapped with the robot's morphology, the proposed architecture accommodates its applicability to a variety of social robot platforms., Comment: 5th International Symposium on New Frontiers in Human-Robot Interaction 2016 (arXiv:1602.05456)

Published
2016

3. A multilayer reactive system for robots interacting with children with autism

Author

Esteban, Pablo Gómez, Cao, Hoang-Long, De Beir, Albert, Van de Perre, Greet, Lefeber, Dirk, and Vanderborght, Bram

Subjects
Computer Science - Robotics, Computer Science - Human-Computer Interaction
Abstract

There is a lack of autonomy on traditional Robot-Assisted Therapy systems interacting with children with autism. To overcome this limitation a supervised autonomous robot controller is being built. In this paper we present a multilayer reactive system within such controller. The goal of this Reactive system is to allow the robot to appropriately react to the child's behavior creating the illusion of being alive., Comment: 5th International Symposium on New Frontiers in Human-Robot Interaction 2016 (arXiv:1602.05456)

Published
2016

4. An End-User Interface to Generate Homeostatic Behavior for NAO Robot in Robot-Assisted Social Therapies

Author

Cao, Hoang-Long, De Beir, Albert, Gómez Esteban, Pablo, Simut, Ramona, Van de Perre, Greet, Lefeber, Dirk, Vanderborght, Bram, Hutchison, David, Series editor, Kanade, Takeo, Series editor, Kittler, Josef, Series editor, Kleinberg, Jon M., Series editor, Mattern, Friedemann, Series editor, Mitchell, John C., Series editor, Naor, Moni, Series editor, Pandu Rangan, C., Series editor, Steffen, Bernhard, Series editor, Terzopoulos, Demetri, Series editor, Tygar, Doug, Series editor, Weikum, Gerhard, Series editor, Rojas, Ignacio, editor, Joya, Gonzalo, editor, and Catala, Andreu, editor

Published
2017
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8. Probolino: A Portable Low-Cost Social Device for Home-Based Autism Therapy

Author

Cao, Hoang-Long, Pop, Cristina, Simut, Ramona, Furnemónt, Raphaël, De Beir, Albert, Van de Perre, Greet, Esteban, Pablo Gómez, Lefeber, Dirk, Vanderborght, Bram, Hutchison, David, Editorial Board Member, Kanade, Takeo, Editorial Board Member, Kittler, Josef, Editorial Board Member, Kleinberg, Jon M., Editorial Board Member, Mattern, Friedemann, Editorial Board Member, Mitchell, John C., Editorial Board Member, Naor, Moni, Editorial Board Member, Pandu Rangan, C., Editorial Board Member, Terzopoulos, Demetri, Editorial Board Member, Tygar, Doug, Editorial Board Member, Weikum, Gerhard, Series Editor, Goos, Gerhard, Founding Editor, Hartmanis, Juris, Founding Editor, Bertino, Elisa, Editorial Board Member, Gao, Wen, Editorial Board Member, Steffen, Bernhard, Editorial Board Member, Yung, Moti, Editorial Board Member, Woeginger, Gerhard, Editorial Board Member, Tapus, Adriana, editor, André, Elisabeth, editor, Martin, Jean-Claude, editor, Ferland, François, editor, and Ammi, Mehdi, editor

Published
2015
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10. How to Build a Supervised Autonomous System for Robot-Enhanced Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Author

Esteban Pablo G., Baxter Paul, Belpaeme Tony, Billing Erik, Cai Haibin, Cao Hoang-Long, Coeckelbergh Mark, Costescu Cristina, David Daniel, De Beir Albert, Fang Yinfeng, Ju Zhaojie, Kennedy James, Liu Honghai, Mazel Alexandre, Pandey Amit, Richardson Kathleen, Senft Emmanuel, Thill Serge, Van de Perre Greet, Vanderborght Bram, Vernon David, Yu Hui, and Ziemke Tom

Subjects
robot-enhanced therapy, autism spectrum disorders, supervised autonomy, multi-sensory data, cognitive controller, Technology
Abstract

Robot-Assisted Therapy (RAT) has successfully been used to improve social skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) through remote control of the robot in so-called Wizard of Oz (WoZ) paradigms.However, there is a need to increase the autonomy of the robot both to lighten the burden on human therapists (who have to remain in control and, importantly, supervise the robot) and to provide a consistent therapeutic experience. This paper seeks to provide insight into increasing the autonomy level of social robots in therapy to move beyond WoZ. With the final aim of improved human-human social interaction for the children, this multidisciplinary research seeks to facilitate the use of social robots as tools in clinical situations by addressing the challenge of increasing robot autonomy.We introduce the clinical framework in which the developments are tested, alongside initial data obtained from patients in a first phase of the project using a WoZ set-up mimicking the targeted supervised-autonomy behaviour. We further describe the implemented system architecture capable of providing the robot with supervised autonomy.

Published
2017
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17. Modulations of one's sense of agency during human–machine interactions: A behavioural study using a full humanoid robot.

Author

Sahaï, Aïsha, Caspar, Emilie, De Beir, Albert, Grynszpan, Ouriel, Pacherie, Elisabeth, and Berberian, Bruno

Subjects
HUMANOID robots, TIME delay estimation, AGENT (Philosophy), SERVOMECHANISMS, INVESTIGATION reports
Abstract

Although previous investigations reported a reduced sense of agency when individuals act with traditional machines, little is known about the mechanisms underpinning interactions with human-like automata. The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to investigate the effect of the machine's physical appearance on the individuals' sense of agency and (2) to explore the cognitive mechanisms underlying the individuals' sense of agency when they are engaged in a joint task. Twenty-eight participants performed a joint Simon task together with another human or an automated artificial system as a co-agent. The physical appearance of the automated artificial system was manipulated so that participants could cooperate either with a servomotor or a full humanoid robot during the joint task. Both participants' response times and temporal estimations of action-output delays (i.e., an implicit measure of agency) were collected. Results showed that participants' sense of agency for self- and other-generated actions sharply declined during interactions with the servomotor compared with the human–human interactions. Interestingly, participants' sense of agency for self- and other-generated actions was reinforced when participants interacted with the humanoid robot compared with the servomotor. These results are discussed further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2023
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19. Deep learning for biosignal control: insights from basic to real-time methods with recommendations

Author

Dillen, Arnau, primary, Steckelmacher, Denis, additional, Efthymiadis, Kyriakos, additional, Langlois, Kevin, additional, De Beir, Albert, additional, Marusic, Uros, additional, Vanderborght, Bram, additional, Nowé, Ann, additional, Meeusen, Romain, additional, Ghaffari, Fakhreddine, additional, Romain, Olivier, additional, and De Pauw, Kevin, additional

Published
2022
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26. A Collaborative Homeostatic-Based Behavior Controller for Social Robots in Human–Robot Interaction Experiments

Author

Bram Vanderborght, Greet Van de Perre, Pablo Gómez Esteban, De Beir Albert, Hoang-Long Cao, Ramona Simut, Dirk Lefeber, Applied Mechanics, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, and Robotics & Multibody Mechanics Research Group

Subjects
HOMEOSTASIS, 0209 industrial biotechnology, General Computer Science, Social Psychology, Computer science, joint action, behavior controller, social robot, 02 engineering and technology, Human–robot interaction, 020901 industrial engineering & automation, Human–computer interaction, Control theory, 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Simulation, Social robot, business.industry, 05 social sciences, Robotics, Robot control, Human-Computer Interaction, Philosophy, Control and Systems Engineering, Teleoperation, Robot, Artificial intelligence, business, Computer Science(all), 050104 developmental & child psychology, Social behavior
Abstract

Robots have been gradually leaving laboratory and factory environments and moving into human populated environments. Various social robots have been developed with the ability to exhibit social behaviors and collaborate with non-expert users in different situations. In order to increase the degree of collaboration between humans and the robots in human–robot joint action systems, these robots need to achieve higher levels of interaction with humans. However, many social robots are operated under teleoperation modes or pre-programmed scenarios. Based on homeostatic drive theory, this paper presents the development of a novel collaborative behavior controller for social robots to jointly perform tasks with users in human–robot interaction (HRI) experiments. Manual work during the experiments is reduced, and the experimenters can focus more on the interaction. We propose a hybrid concept for the behavior decision-making process, which combines the hierarchical approach and parallel-rooted, ordered, slip-stack hierarchical architecture. Emotions are associated with behaviors by using the two-dimensional space model of valence and arousal. We validate the usage of the behavior controller by a joint attention HRI scenario in which the NAO robot and a therapist jointly interact with children.

Published
2017

27. Robot-Enhanced Therapy: Development and Validation of a Supervised Autonomous Robotic System for Autism Spectrum Disorders Therapy

Author

Cao, Hoang-Long, Gomez Esteban, Pablo, Bartlett, Madeleine, Baxter, Paul, Belpaeme, Tony, Billing, Erik, Cai, Haibin, Coeckelbergh, Mark, Costescu, Cristina, Daniel, David, De Beir, Albert, Hernandez Garcia, Daniel, Kennedy, James, Liu, Honghai, Matu, Silviu, Mazel, Alexandre, Kumar, Amit, Richardson, Kathleen, Senft, Emmanuel, Thill, Serge, Van De Perre, Greet, Vanderborght, Bram, Vernon, David, Wakanuma, Kutoma, Yu, Hui, Zhou, Xiaolong, Ziemke, Tom, Faculty of Engineering, Applied Mechanics, and Robotics & Multibody Mechanics Research Group

Subjects
Control and Systems Engineering, technology, industry, and agriculture, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Computer Science Applications
Abstract

Robot-assisted therapy (RAT) offers potential advantages for improving the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This article provides an overview of the developed technology and clinical results of the EC-FP7- funded Development of Robot-Enhanced therapy for children with AutisM spectrum disorders (DREAM) project, which aims to develop the next level of RAT in both clinical and technological perspectives, commonly referred to as robot-enhanced therapy (RET). Within this project, a supervised autonomous robotic system is collaboratively developed by an interdisciplinary consortium including psychotherapists, cognitive scientists, roboticists, computer scientists, and ethicists, which allows robot control to exceed classical remote control methods, e.g., Wizard of Oz (WoZ), while ensuring safe and ethical robot behavior. Rigorous clinical studies are conducted to validate the efficacy of RET. Current results indicate that RET can obtain an equivalent performance compared to that ofhuman standard therapy for children with ASDs. We also discuss the next steps of developing RET robotic systems.

Published
2019

28. Robot-Enhanced Therapy Developing and Validating a Supervised Autonomous Robotic System for Autism Spectrum Disorders Therapy

Author

Cao, Hoang-Long, Esteban, Pablo G., Bartlett, Madeleine, Baxter, Paul, Belpaeme, Tony, Billing, Erik, Cai, Haibin, Coeckelbergh, Mark, Costescu, Cristina, David, Daniel, De Beir, Albert, Hernandez, Daniel, Kennedy, James, Liu, Honghai, Matu, Silviu, Mazel, Alexandre, Pandey, Amit, Richardson, Kathleen, Senft, Emmanuel, Thill, Serge, Van de Perre, Greet, Vanderborght, Bram, Vernon, David, Wakunuma, Kutoma, Yu, Hui, Zhou, Xiaolong, Ziemke, Tom, Cao, Hoang-Long, Esteban, Pablo G., Bartlett, Madeleine, Baxter, Paul, Belpaeme, Tony, Billing, Erik, Cai, Haibin, Coeckelbergh, Mark, Costescu, Cristina, David, Daniel, De Beir, Albert, Hernandez, Daniel, Kennedy, James, Liu, Honghai, Matu, Silviu, Mazel, Alexandre, Pandey, Amit, Richardson, Kathleen, Senft, Emmanuel, Thill, Serge, Van de Perre, Greet, Vanderborght, Bram, Vernon, David, Wakunuma, Kutoma, Yu, Hui, Zhou, Xiaolong, and Ziemke, Tom

Abstract

n/a, Funding Agencies|European Commissions Seventh Framework Program as part of the DREAM project [611391]

Published
2019
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29. Robot-Enhanced Therapy: Development and Validation of Supervised Autonomous Robotic System for Autism Spectrum Disorders Therapy

Author

Cao, Hoang-Long, primary, Esteban, Pablo G., additional, Bartlett, Madeleine, additional, Baxter, Paul, additional, Belpaeme, Tony, additional, Billing, Erik, additional, Cai, Haibin, additional, Coeckelbergh, Mark, additional, Costescu, Cristina, additional, David, Daniel, additional, De Beir, Albert, additional, Hernandez, Daniel, additional, Kennedy, James, additional, Liu, Honghai, additional, Matu, Silviu, additional, Mazel, Alexandre, additional, Pandey, Amit, additional, Richardson, Kathleen, additional, Senft, Emmanuel, additional, Thill, Serge, additional, Van de Perre, Greet, additional, Vanderborght, Bram, additional, Vernon, David, additional, Wakanuma, Kutoma, additional, Yu, Hui, additional, Zhou, Xiaolong, additional, and Ziemke, Tom, additional

Published
2019
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30. How using brain-machine interfaces influences the human sense of agency

Author

ASCC, Association for the scientific study of consciousness (Krakow, Poland), Caspar, Emilie, De Beir, Albert, Lauwers, Gil, Cleeremans, Axel, Vanderborght, Bram, ASCC, Association for the scientific study of consciousness (Krakow, Poland), Caspar, Emilie, De Beir, Albert, Lauwers, Gil, Cleeremans, Axel, and Vanderborght, Bram

Abstract

info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Published
2018

32. Humanoid Robot Pepper at a Belgian Chocolate Shop

Author

De Gauquier, Laurens, primary, Cao, Hoang-Long, additional, Gomez Esteban, Pablo, additional, De Beir, Albert, additional, van de Sanden, Stephanie, additional, Willems, Kim, additional, Brengman, Malaika, additional, and Vanderborght, Bram, additional

Published
2018
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33. How to Build a Supervised Autonomous System for Robot-Enhanced Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Author

Esteban, Pablo G., Baxter, Paul, Belpaeme, Tony, Billing, Erik, Cai, Haibin, Cao, Hoang-Long, Coeckelbergh, Mark, Costescu, Cristina, David, Daniel, De Beir, Albert, Fang, Yinfeng, Ju, Zhaojie, Kennedy, James, Liu, Honghai, Mazel, Alexandre, Pandey, Amit, Richardson, Kathleen, Senft, Emmanuel, Thill, Serge, Van de Perre, Greet, Vanderborght, Bram, Vernon, David, Yu, Hui, Ziemke, Tom, Esteban, Pablo G., Baxter, Paul, Belpaeme, Tony, Billing, Erik, Cai, Haibin, Cao, Hoang-Long, Coeckelbergh, Mark, Costescu, Cristina, David, Daniel, De Beir, Albert, Fang, Yinfeng, Ju, Zhaojie, Kennedy, James, Liu, Honghai, Mazel, Alexandre, Pandey, Amit, Richardson, Kathleen, Senft, Emmanuel, Thill, Serge, Van de Perre, Greet, Vanderborght, Bram, Vernon, David, Yu, Hui, and Ziemke, Tom

Abstract

Robot-Assisted Therapy (RAT) has successfully been used to improve social skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) through remote control of the robot in so-called Wizard of Oz (WoZ) paradigms.However, there is a need to increase the autonomy of the robot both to lighten the burden on human therapists (who have to remain in control and, importantly, supervise the robot) and to provide a consistent therapeutic experience. This paper seeks to provide insight into increasing the autonomy level of social robots in therapy to move beyond WoZ. With the final aim of improved human-human social interaction for the children, this multidisciplinary research seeks to facilitate the use of social robots as tools in clinical situations by addressing the challenge of increasing robot autonomy.We introduce the clinical framework in which the developments are tested, alongside initial data obtained from patients in a first phase of the project using a WoZ set-up mimicking the targeted supervised-autonomy behaviour. We further describe the implemented system architecture capable of providing the robot with supervised autonomy.

Published
2017
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38. New frontiers in the rubber hand experiment: when a robotic hand becomes one’s own

Author

Caspar, Emilie, De Beir, Albert, Magalhaes De Saldanha D, Pedro, Yernaux, Florence, Cleeremans, Axel, Vanderborght, Bram, Caspar, Emilie, De Beir, Albert, Magalhaes De Saldanha D, Pedro, Yernaux, Florence, Cleeremans, Axel, and Vanderborght, Bram

Abstract

The rubber hand illusion is an experimental paradigm in which participants consider a fake hand to be part of their body. This paradigm has been used in many domains of psychology (i.e. research on pain, body ownership, agency) and is of clinical importance. The classic rubber hand paradigm nevertheless suffers from limitations, such as the absence of active motion or the reliance on approximate measurements, which makes strict experimental conditions difficult to obtain. Here, we report on the development of a novel technology—a robotic, user- and computer-controllable hand—that addresses many of the limitations associated with the classic rubber hand paradigm. Because participants can actively control the robotic hand, the device affords higher realism and authenticity. Our robotic hand has a comparatively low cost and opens up novel and innovative methods. In order to validate the robotic hand, we have carried out three experiments. The first two studies were based on previous research using the rubber hand, while the third was specific to the robotic hand. We measured both sense of agency and ownership. Overall, results show that participants experienced a “robotic hand illusion” in the baseline conditions. Furthermore, we also replicated previous results about agency and ownership., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Published
2015

39. A Personalized and Platform-Independent Behavior Control System for Social Robots in Therapy: Development and Applications

Author

Cao, Hoang-Long, Van de Perre, Greet, Kennedy, James, Senft, Emmanuel, Gómez Esteban, Pablo, De Beir, Albert, Simut, Ramona, Belpaeme, Tony, Lefeber, Dirk, and Vanderborght, Bram

Abstract

Social robots have been proven beneficial in different types of healthcare interventions. An ongoing trend is to develop (semi-)autonomous socially assistive robotic systems in healthcare context to improve the level of autonomy and reduce human workload. This paper presents a behavior control system for social robots in therapies with a focus on personalization and platform-independence. This system architecture provides the robot an ability to behave as a personable character, which behaviors are adapted to user profiles and responses during the human-robot interaction. Robot behaviors are designed at abstract levels and can be transferred to different social robot platforms. We adopt the component-based software engineering approach to implement our proposed architecture to allow for the replaceability and reusability of the developed components. We introduce three different experimental scenarios to validate the usability of our system. Results show that the system is potentially applicable to different therapies and social robots. With the component-based approach, the system can serve as a basic framework for researchers to customize and expand the system for their targeted healthcare applications.

Published
2019
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45. "Hmm, Did You Hear What I Just Said?": Development of a Re-Engagement System for Socially Interactive Robots.

Author

Cao, Hoang-Long, Torrico Moron, Paola Cecilia, Esteban, Pablo G., De Beir, Albert, Bagheri, Elahe, Lefeber, Dirk, and Vanderborght, Bram

Subjects
USER-centered system design, HUMAN-robot interaction, ROBOTS, SYSTEMS development, VERBAL behavior, ADAPTABILITY (Personality)
Abstract

Maintaining engagement is challenging in human–human interaction. When disengagements happen, people try to adapt their behavior with an expectation that engagement will be regained. In human–robot interaction, although socially interactive robots are engaging, people can easily drop engagement while interacting with robots. This paper proposes a multi-layer re-engagement system that applies different strategies through human-like verbal and non-verbal behaviors to regain user engagement, taking into account the user's attention level and affective states. We conducted a usability test in a robot storytelling scenario to demonstrate technical operation of the system as well as to investigate how people react when interacting with a robot with re-engagement ability. Our usability test results reveal that the system has the potential to maintain a user's engagement. Our selected users gave positive comments, through open-ended questions, to the robot with this ability. They also rated the robot with the re-engagement ability higher on several dimensions, i.e., animacy, likability, and perceived intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2019
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46. Evolutionary Method for Robot Morphology: Case Study of Social Robot Probo.

Author

De Beir, Albert and Vanderborght, Bram

Subjects
ROBOTICS research, HUMAN-robot interaction, SOCIAL robots, GENETIC algorithms, INTERNET surveys
Abstract

The appearance of robots is often made arbitrary as it relies more on guidelines than on a rigorous methodology. This paper presents a novel method of using genetic algorithms (GA) to improve the appearance of social robots with human feedback. Such general methods are interesting as they do not require prior artistic experience from the designer and can integrate the end-user in the loop. As a proof of concept, we carry out a case study by applying this method to the new design of the social robot Probo. Using designer feedback, the robot is evolved from its original design over five populations composed of 15 individuals. An online survey shows that the evolved designs are significantly improved compared to the original. These results indicate the feasibility of the method employed and gives rise to the possibility of non-technical end-users influencing the design of robot morphologies adapted for specific human-robot interaction requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2016

47. Humanoid Robot Pepper at a Belgian Chocolate Shop.

Author

De Gauquier, Laurens, Hoang-Long Cao, Esteban, Pablo Gomez, De Beir, Albert, van de Sanden, Stephanie, Willems, Kim, Brengman, Malaika, and Vanderborght, Bram

Subjects
HUMAN-robot interaction, HUMANOID robots, SOCIAL robots, CUSTOMER satisfaction, INFORMATION & communication technologies
Abstract

Humanoid robots hold potential to offer customer experience for bricks-and-mortar stores. Participants took part in a quiz on the topic chocolate in an experimental field study at 'The Belgian Chocolate House' in Brussels airport in which a tablet kiosk and a Pepper robot were compared. The experiments showed that offering the quiz on a humanoid robot provided better results in terms of shopper impressions and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Published
2018
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48. Robot-Enhanced Therapy: Development and Validation of Supervised Autonomous Robotic System for Autism Spectrum Disorders Therapy

Author

Cao, Hoang-Long, Esteban, Pablo G., Bartlett, Madeleine, Baxter, Paul, Belpaeme, Tony, Billing, Erik, Cai, Haibin, Coeckelbergh, Mark, Costescu, Cristina, David, Daniel, De Beir, Albert, Hernandez, Daniel, Kennedy, James, Liu, Honghai, Matu, Silviu, Mazel, Alexandre, Pandey, Amit, Richardson, Kathleen, Senft, Emmanuel, Thill, Serge, Van de Perre, Greet, Vanderborght, Bram, Vernon, David, Wakanuma, Kutoma, Yu, Hui, Zhou, Xiaolong, Ziemke, Tom, Cao, Hoang-Long, Esteban, Pablo G., Bartlett, Madeleine, Baxter, Paul, Belpaeme, Tony, Billing, Erik, Cai, Haibin, Coeckelbergh, Mark, Costescu, Cristina, David, Daniel, De Beir, Albert, Hernandez, Daniel, Kennedy, James, Liu, Honghai, Matu, Silviu, Mazel, Alexandre, Pandey, Amit, Richardson, Kathleen, Senft, Emmanuel, Thill, Serge, Van de Perre, Greet, Vanderborght, Bram, Vernon, David, Wakanuma, Kutoma, Yu, Hui, Zhou, Xiaolong, and Ziemke, Tom

Abstract

Robot-assisted therapy (RAT) offers potential advantages for improving the social skills of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This article provides an overview of the developed technology and clinical results of the EC-FP7-funded Development of Robot-Enhanced therapy for children with AutisM spectrum disorders (DREAM) project, which aims to develop the next level of RAT in both clinical and technological perspectives, commonly referred to as robot-enhanced therapy (RET). Within this project, a supervised autonomous robotic system is collaboratively developed by an interdisciplinary consortium including psychotherapists, cognitive scientists, roboticists, computer scientists, and ethicists, which allows robot control to exceed classical remote control methods, e.g., Wizard of Oz (WoZ), while ensuring safe and ethical robot behavior. Rigorous clinical studies are conducted to validate the efficacy of RET. Current results indicate that RET can obtain an equivalent performance compared to that of human standard therapy for children with ASDs. We also discuss the next steps of developing RET robotic systems.

Full Text
View/download PDF

49. How to build a supervised autonomous system for robot-enhanced therapy for children with autism spectrum disorder

Author

Esteban, Pablo G., Baxter, Paul, Belpaeme, Tony, Billing, Erik, Cai, Haibin, Cao, Hoang-Long, Coeckelbergh, Mark, Costescu, Cristina, David, Daniel, De Beir, Albert, Fang, Yinfeng, Ju, Zhaojie, Kennedy, James, Liu, Honghai, Mazel, Alexandre, Pandey, Amit, Richardson, Kathleen, Senft, Emmanue, Thill, Serge, Van de Perre, Greet, Vanderborght, Bram, Vernon, David, Yu, Hui, Ziemke, Tom, Esteban, Pablo G., Baxter, Paul, Belpaeme, Tony, Billing, Erik, Cai, Haibin, Cao, Hoang-Long, Coeckelbergh, Mark, Costescu, Cristina, David, Daniel, De Beir, Albert, Fang, Yinfeng, Ju, Zhaojie, Kennedy, James, Liu, Honghai, Mazel, Alexandre, Pandey, Amit, Richardson, Kathleen, Senft, Emmanue, Thill, Serge, Van de Perre, Greet, Vanderborght, Bram, Vernon, David, Yu, Hui, and Ziemke, Tom

Abstract

Robot-Assisted Therapy (RAT) has successfully been used to improve social skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) through remote control of the robot in so-called Wizard of Oz (WoZ) paradigms.However, there is a need to increase the autonomy of the robot both to lighten the burden on human therapists (who have to remain in control and, importantly, supervise the robot) and to provide a consistent therapeutic experience. This paper seeks to provide insight into increasing the autonomy level of social robots in therapy to move beyond WoZ. With the final aim of improved human-human social interaction for the children, this multidisciplinary research seeks to facilitate the use of social robots as tools in clinical situations by addressing the challenge of increasing robot autonomy.We introduce the clinical framework in which the developments are tested, alongside initial data obtained from patients in a first phase of the project using a WoZ set-up mimicking the targeted supervised-autonomy behaviour. We further describe the implemented system architecture capable of providing the robot with supervised autonomy.

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