Eden Sawczenzko, diagnosed with a mental condition, autism, has never held hands with another child nor hugged other people. Today, the child is remarkably improved after her sessions with the child-friendly robot invented by researchers in London.
Kaspar is a human-looking robot created as the size of a child. It is designed to help autistic children interact socially. Once a week, Kaspar is brought to a pre-school for autistic children where the little girl Sawczenko goes it Stevenage, north of London.
Researchers allow the children to play with the robot. They are supervised by a scientist who monitors and controls the robot. The children, with mild to severe autism, are given 10 minutes each to interact with the remote-controlled robot.
Sawczenko has started playing with Kaspar this year. After several 10-minute sessions with Kaspar, the little girl now hugs everyone. It was found that her social skills have remarkably improved.
Kaspar teaches children about emotions, as well as physical contact. It is programmed to do interactive human actions such as blink, frown, laugh, and smile. He can also wave his arms.
According to the researchers, Kaspar has several versions. These include a pro-version, which is advanced enough for it to be able to play Nintendo Wii.
The shaggy-haired robot wears polo and shorts, striped red socks, and a baseball cap. A few wires can be observed protruding over his neck.
However, the robot is still in its experimental stage. Researchers are hoping they can generate several of him one of these days. So far, Kaspar has already helped 300 autistic children. He is available at the University of Hertfordshire at an estimated amount of $2,118 or $1,300 pounds.
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