Animation, Theory of Mind and Humanoid Robots: Creating a Social Robot Video Task

Abstract

Abstract Theory of Mind (ToM)—a social cognitive ability commonly underdeveloped in individuals with autism—is necessary to attribute mental states to oneself and others. Research into robot-assisted interventions to improve ToM ability in children with autism has become increasingly popular. However, no appropriate task currently exists to measure the degree of efficacy of robot-assisted interventions targeting ToM ability. The authors demonstrate how animation techniques and principles can be leveraged to develop and produce videos of humanoid robots interacting, which could selectively measure ToM.