An interactive training system of motor learning by imitation and speech instructions for children with autism

Abstract

This paper presents an interactive training platform of motor learning using movement imitation and synchronous speech instruction. This platform enables a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a robot to imitate each other. A robot can ask a child to copy its action and instruct human how to adjust his/her action to match its action. A robot can also ask a child to coach it, which is able to elicit children's response to increase their communication. The platform is built up by a NAO humanoid robot that demonstrates actions, and a depth camera that captures child's actions. We scaled the skeleton tracking data in order to evaluate the consistence of actions between human and robot. The pilot tests on both children with and without ASD have shown that our framework is flexible and convenient for assisting intervention, and that the synchronous speech instructions to some extend facilitate children with ASD to perform their actions for motor learning.