Developing therapeutic robot for children with autism: A study on exploring colour feedback

Previous studies have reported that autistic children improved the social interaction and communication skills through interacting with robots. Most studies in the field of robot-assisted autism therapy, however, have focused on limited communication skills. Moreover, these studies used non-validated methods to measure the effectiveness of the therapy. Thus, in the present study, a therapeutic robot is proposed for autistic children to improve the adjustability of the interpersonal touch as one of communication skills. The aim of this study is to investigate the effective way of feedback in autism therapy with the robot using colours in three different conditions. As a result, the participants have indicated that better interaction, when they saw the colour directly.