Using a Socially Assistive Humanoid Robot to Encourage Infant Leg Motion Training

Early interventions have the potential to positively influence infant movement patterns and support optimal neurodevelopmental outcomes. This work developed and validated a non-contact socially assistive infant-robot interaction system that aimed to use contingent reward learning and imitation to deliver effective early interventions that complement humandelivered therapy. The described study explored if infants demonstrate contingent learning and imitation behavior in response to movements by a similarly-sized NAO humanoid robot. Twelve 6to 8-month-old infants participated in a within-subjects study that compared different robot contingent reward policies for encouraging leg movement. Nine of the twelve participants learned the contingency. Of these learners, two responded less to the movement and lights reward than other rewards. Nine of the twelve infants imitated the NAO robot during at least one reward condition phase. These imitators displayed different learning rates and sometimes changed their behavior to imitate less during later reward conditions. Infants were generally alert and non-fussy when interacting with the robot. Parents of participants perceived the robot reward involving both movement and sound to be most engaging for their children. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first foray into using socially assistive robots with infants. As this new research area develops, our results aim to inform continued work into targeted robot-assisted infant motion interventions.