KASPAR autism robot to appear at Royal Society
A robot which was developed by researchers at the University of Hertfordshire to help children with autism to learn about social interaction will take part in the Royal Society’s Rise of the Machines event this week.
Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn and her research team at the University’s School of Computer Science will present KASPAR (Kinesics and Synchronisation in Personal Assistant Robots) at the event which will take place at the Royal Society on Friday 15 October at 6.30pm.
KASPAR is a child-sized robot currently being used in human-robot interaction studies in the context of cognitive and developmental robotics and assistive technology, including studies of the possible therapeutic and educational benefits of "robotic mediators" for children with autism.
Professor Dautenhahn is a pioneering researcher in robot social learning and imitation whose research interests include Human-Robot Interaction, Social Robotics, Socially Intelligent Agents and Artificial Life. She set up a new Robot House at the University of Hertfordshire last year to develop robots as social companions.
At Rise of the Machines, she will be joined by contemporary science fiction author, Tony Ballantyne, for a discussion of the future implications of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.
The event, which is being held in conjunction with SCI-FI-London, will question if robots have an important role as future human assistants, if they can be taught to be "social beings" and what uses could they have in human society.
Professor Dautenhahn said: “It is an exciting opportunity to engage with the general public and people from outside robotics in order to clarify some of the myths surrounding social and intelligent robots. Social Robots have a promising future in applications where they can help people, e.g. in therapy or care for the elderly, However, no matter how clever they may appear, they remain socially interactive machines and tools which should not pretend to be more than that.”
This event takes place as part of the Royal Society's 350th anniversary celebrations in 2010.
For more information and to reserve a place, please visit: http://royalsociety.org/Rise-of-the-Machines/
ENDS
For more information, please contact Hélène Murphy, Media & PR Officer, University of Hertfordshire Press Office on +44 (0)1707 28 4095, Email: h.1.murphy@herts.ac.uk