CosmoBot levels the playing field for disabled children

MOST CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES are engaged in some form of therapeutic rehabilitation and receive special education services. Therapists and educators spend much of their time trying to motivate children to perform therapy or participate in educational activities. Technology, specifically robotics, can level the playing field for therapists, educators, and children with disabilities. CosmoBotTM and Mission ControlTM. The CosmoBot system has been designed to provide motivation for children to perform their therapies, thereby assisting therapists and educators to perform their tasks more effectively and efficiently. A primary objective, particularly for children with severe disabilities, is to encourage them to interact as much as possible with their environment. For this reason, the gestural interface technology is enhanced with a robot, designed to act as a child’s friend and companion. By motivating children to interact with a robot, professionals can focus on providing excellent care to these children. The system will also benefit parents and family members of children with disabilities to motivate children to learn while having fun. The technologies have evolved into the CosmoBot system, centered around the CosmoBot robot. We designed CosmoBot to motivate children with and without disabilities to participate in activities that target developmental goals. CosmoBot is controlled through gestures and voice with the use of the Mission Control interface device and modular, gestural components that can be plugged into Mission Control. Mission Control is the first hardware product developed by AnthroTronix, providing gestural and voice interfaces for a child to play with the CosmoBot robot and with software games. Mission Control is a child-friendly, fun computer interface system with four large pressure-sensing buttons and a microphone. Mission Control plugs directly into the USB port of a PC, and can be used to play any joystick, keyboard, or mouse-based game or use any switch-enabled software. Play and Learn Software. While playing with off-the-shelf software games and educational software is beneficial for some children, others become frustrated because the software is not directed to meet their particular needs. Therefore, AnthroTronix has created educational software to complement the