Antonio Chella, University of Palermo and ICAR-CNR, IT

The talk will discuss and summarize the experiments concerning the project ‘Robotics and Autism’, jointly conducted by the RoboticsLab of the University of Palermo and the ASD experts of the Italian regional health service (ASP6 Palermo). The project aimed to experience and compare the employment of the humanoid robots NAO and Telenoid as empathic mediators. Experiences were conducted with ASD children, at the age of 11, in a middle school in Palermo. The objectives of the project were the assessment of humanoid robots on the interaction and social integration among ASD children and the schoolmates. Several sessions were conducted during a period of three months. Notably, one of the ASD children, initially less fluent, showed significant interest in the Telenoid robot. Towards the end of the project, he took on the initiative and appeared as the initiator of group interactions with classmates. Another ASD child, bold and prevaricating, during interactions with the NAO robot, was adequate to the model of interaction with peers. In conclusion, the preliminary results of this study are encouraging in taking into account the humanoid robots as empathic mediators for ASD children.