. Increasingly socially intelligent agents (software or robotic) are used in education, rehabilitation and therapy. This paper discusses the role of interactive, mobile robots as social mediators in the particular domain of autism therapy. This research is part of the project AURORA that studies how mobile robots can be used to teach children with autism basic interaction skills that are important in social interactions among humans. Results from a particular series of trials involving pairs of two children and a mobile robot are described. The results show that the scenario with pairs of children and a robot creates a very interesting social context which gives rise to a variety of different social and non-social interaction patterns, demonstrating the specific problems but also abilities of children with autism in social interactions. Future work will include a closer analysis of interactional structure in human-human and robot-human interaction. We outline a particular framework that we are investigating. 1

This paper discusses the design space of believable social robots. We synthesise ideas and concepts from areas as diverse as comics design and rehabilitation robotics. First, we revisit the work of the Japanese researcher Masahiro Mori in the context of recent developments in social robots. Next, we discuss work in the arts into comics design, an area which has dealt for decades with the problem of creating believable characters. Finally, in order to illustrate some of the important issues involved we focus on a particular application area: the use of interactive robots in autism therapy, work that is carried out in the Aurora project. We discuss design issues of social robots in the context of `design spaces' and `niche spaces', concepts that have been defined originally for intelligent agent architectures [26] but which, we propose, can be highly valuable for social robotics design. This paper is meant to open up a discussion towards a systematic exploration of design spaces and niche spaces of social robots.

This paper discusses the potential use of a small, humanoid robotic doll called Robota in autism therapy. Robota was specifically designed for engaging children in imitative interaction games. This work is associated to the Aurora project where we study the potential therapeutic role of robots in autism therapy. This section provides the necessary background information on autism (18.1.1), and motivates the application of interactive technology in autism therapy (18.1.2). Section 18.1.3 discusses the important role of imitation and interaction games in the development of social skills. Section 18.2 introduces the Aurora project. Sections 18.3 and 18.4 briefly describe the humanoid doll Robota and its potential use in autism therapy. Observations from preliminary trials are discussed in section 18.5 before section 18.6 concludes this chapter. 18.1.1 Autism The autistic disorder is defined by specific diagnostic criteria, specified in DSM-IV

To navigate effectively, an autonomous agent must be able to quickly and accurately determine its current location. Given an initial estimate of its position (perhaps based on dead-reckoning) and an image taken of a known environment, our agent first attempts to locate a set of landmarks (real-world objects at known locations), then uses their angular separation to obtain an improved estimate of its current position. Unfortunately, some landmarks may not be visible, or worse, may be confused with other landmarks, resulting in both time wasted in searching for invisible landmarks, and in further errors in the agent's estimate of its position. To address these problems, we propose a method that uses previous experiences to learn a selection function that, given the set of landmarks that might be visible, returns the subset which can reliably be found correctly, and so provide an accurate registration of the agent's position. We use statistical techniques to prove that the learned selecti...

This article puts research on socially intelligent agents (SIA) in the broader context of how humans (and other primates) perceive and interact with the social world. Phylogenetic (evolutionary) and ontogenetic (developmental) issues are discussed with respect to the social origin of primate and human intelligence and human culture. Implications for designing artifacts and for the evolvability of human societies are outlined. A theory of empathy is presented that is based on current research on the primate social brain. Research projects that investigate some of these issues are reviewed. I argue that Socially Intelligent Agents (SIA) research, although strongly linked to software and robotic engineering, goes beyond a software engineering paradigm: it can potentially serve as a paradigm for a science of social minds. A systematic and experimental investigation of human social minds and the way humans perceive the social world can result in truly social artifacts,...

This paper proposes a technique for quantitatively describing and analysing robot-human interactions in terms of low-level behavioural criteria (so-called micro-behaviours). In order to demonstrate the usefulness of this technique, we describe a case study that was conducted as part of the Aurora project where we develop robotic toys as therapeutic tools for children with autism. In this project we made explicit choices of how to assess robot-human interaction and how to study the impact of interaction. Results of a comparative study with autistic children are shown where we focus on eye gaze behaviour. The results point out common tendencies as well as clear differences among the children, important information for future development of robots in the Aurora project. We propose that this technique is applicable to a wide range of application areas that involve robot-human interactions. The work presented in this paper is intended to open up a discussion on appropriate techniques to systematically assess robot-human interactions. Such research is important for the development of robots in human-inhabited environments. 1

This paper discusses the use of observational studies of human-robot social interaction in open human-inhabited environments as a method for improving on the design and evaluating the interactive capabilities of social robots. First, we discuss issues that have surfaced in attempts to evaluate social interactions between humans and robots. Next, we review two observational studies involving robots interacting socially with humans and discuss how the results can be applied to improving robot design. The first is an analysis of a mobile conference-attending robot that performed a search task by augmenting its perception through social interaction with human attendees. The second is an analysis of a stationary robotic receptionist that provides information to visitors and enhances interaction through story-telling. Through these examples, we show how observational studies can be applied to humanrobot social interactions in varying contexts and with differing tasks to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate (and discover unanticipated aspects of) the social interaction. Finally, we discuss design recommendations suggested by insights gained through these analyses.

Since 1998, the Aurora project has been investigating the use of a robotic platform as a tool for therapy use with children with autism. A key issue in this project is the evaluation of the interactions, which are not constricted and involve the child moving freely. Additionally, the response of the children is an important factor which must emerge from the robot trial sessions and the evaluation methodology, in order to guide further development work. BACKGROUND: The term autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) encompasses a range of disabilities and includes Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Aspergers Syndrome and the diagnosis of autism. Depending on the designation, ASD affects between five and fifteen people in every ten thousand. The effects vary considerably between people, but common symptoms are hyper-sensitivity, learning and developmental problems and problems and avoidance of social interaction. The National Autistic Society state three main symptoms of autism, which they term the ‘triad of impairments’. These are deficits in 1) social interaction, 2) social

This paper is complementary to a previous review of signicant research on adaptive behavior in animats. It summarizes the current stateof -the art and outlines directions for possible progress. 1. Introduction In the proceedings of SAB94, we published a review of signicant research on adaptive behavior in animats since the rst SAB conference, held in 1990 (MEYE94). This review summarized the state-of-the art, insofar as the proceedings of three dedicated conferences could help delineate it. Now that three other SAB conferences have been held, we considered that it would be useful to update that earlier review, in order to assess the corresponding progress, to infer the directions in which interesting developments are likely to be expected, and to stress needs for specic additional research eorts. As in the preceding review, this one makes reference only to SAB conference proceedings (SAB96, SAB98, SAB00), on the premise that this perspective, although voluntarily limited, d...

This article discusses narrative intelligence in the context of the evolution of primate (social) intelligence, and with respect to the particular cognitive limits that constrain the development of human social networks and societies.