A Data Collection of Infants’ Visual, Physical, and Behavioral Reactions to a Small Humanoid Robot

Exploratory movements during infancy help typically developing infants learn the connections between their own actions and desired outcomes. In contrast, infants who are at risk for developmental delays often have neuromotor impairments that negatively influence their motivation for movement. The goal of this work is to expand our understanding of infant responses to non-contact interactions with a small humanoid robot. In the initial work presented here, we focus on understanding how this type of robotic system might help to encourage typically developing infant motor exploration. A data collection with N=9 infants compared infant reactions to four robot conditions: saying “yay” with arm movement, saying “kick” with leg movement, saying “yay” with no movement, and saying “kick” with no movement. The results indicate that infants visually gazed at the robot while it moved, looking specifically to the part of the robot that was moving. Infants tended to move more during periods of robot inactivity. When the robot was moving, the infants also seemed more alert. Overall, these results can inform future studies of how to develop interventions to encourage movement practice by typically developing and at-risk infants.