Investigating autistic children´s attitudes towards strangers with the theatrical robot - a new experimental paradigm in human-robot interaction studies

In this paper, as part of a larger study into the possible use of robots in therapy or education of children with autism, we studied the effects of two different robot appearances on autistic children´s behaviour towards the robot. We used a novel experimental paradigm, the theatrical robot, which is discussed in the context of other evaluation methods used in the field of human-robot interaction (HRI). The two appearances used were a plain/robotic and an ´ordinary human´ appearance. The response of children with autism towards the plain/robotic robot was notably more social and pro-active. The ordinary-human appearance resulted in the avoidance behaviour or ´aloofness´, a typical behaviour that autistic children show towards strangers. Implications of these results for our work on robots and autism, as well as other HRI research are discussed.