Relaxing Gaze Aversion of Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder in Consecutive Conversations With Human and Android Robot—A Preliminary Study

Bibliographic Data

ID15524641
AuthorsYuichiro Yoshikawa (0000-0002-3484-0361, The University of Osaka, corresponding author), Hirokazu Kumazaki (0000-0002-2567-0276, National Institute of Mental Health), Yoshio Matsumoto (0000-0001-7325-9580, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology), Masutomo Miyao, Mitsuru Kikuchi (0000-0003-3013-7844, Kanazawa University), Hiroshi Ishiguro (0000-0002-0805-7648, The University of Osaka)
Year2019
Volume10
Pages370-370
Publication date2019-06-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1664-0640 • E-ISSN: 1664-0640
PublisherFrontiers Media (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00370
PMID31258488
OpenAlexW2950897398
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited29

Establishing a treatment method for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) not only to increase their frequency or duration of eye contact but also to maintain it after ceasing the intervention, and furthermore generalize it across communication partners, is a formidable challenge. Android robots, which are a type of humanoid robot with appearances quite similar to that of humans, are expected to adapt to the role of training partners of face-to-face communication for individuals with ASD and to create easier experiences transferrable to humans. To evaluate this possibility, four male adolescents with ASD and six without ASD were asked to participate a pilot experiment in which there were consecutive sessions of semistructured conversation where they alternately faced either a human female or a female-type android robot interlocutor five times in total. Although it is limited by the small sample size, the preliminary results of analysis of their fixation pattern during the conversations indicated positive signs; the subjects tended to look more at the face of the android robot than that of the human interlocutor regardless of whether they had ASD. However, the individuals with ASD looked more at the area around the eyes of the android robot than at the human, and also looked less at that of the human than the individuals without ASD did. An increasing tendency of looking at the area around the human eyes, which could be a positive sign of the transferability of the experiences with an android robot to a human interlocutor, was only weakly observed as the sessions progressed

Android (operating system · Autism · Autism spectrum disorder · Conversation · Developmental psychology · Eye contact · Gaze · Human–computer interaction · Human–robot interaction · Humanoid robot · Robot · Applied Psychology · Autism Spectrum Disorder Research · Child Development and Digital Technology · Communication · Computer Science · Psychology · Virology and Viral Diseases · Artificial Intelligence

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