Kumazaki Hirokazu, Warren Zachary, Muramatsu Taro, Yoshikawa Yuichiro, Matsumoto Yoshio, Miyao Masutomo, Nakano Mitsuko, Mizushima Sakae, Wakita Yujin, Ishiguro Hiroshi, Mimura Masaru, Minabe Yoshio, Kikuchi Mitsuru
Department of Clinical Research on Social Recognition and Memory, Research Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan.
Departments of Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Special Education, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2017 Oct 13;12(10):e0186581. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186581. eCollection 2017.
Recent rapid technological advances have enabled robots to fulfill a variety of human-like functions, leading researchers to propose the use of such technology for the development and subsequent validation of interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although a variety of robots have been proposed as possible therapeutic tools, the physical appearances of humanoid robots currently used in therapy with these patients are highly varied. Very little is known about how these varied designs are experienced by individuals with ASD. In this study, we systematically evaluated preferences regarding robot appearance in a group of 16 individuals with ASD (ages 10-17). Our data suggest that there may be important differences in preference for different types of robots that vary according to interaction type for individuals with ASD. Specifically, within our pilot sample, children with higher-levels of reported ASD symptomatology reported a preference for specific humanoid robots to those perceived as more mechanical or mascot-like. The findings of this pilot study suggest that preferences and reactions to robotic interactions may vary tremendously across individuals with ASD. Future work should evaluate how such differences may be systematically measured and potentially harnessed to facilitate meaningful interactive and intervention paradigms.
最近技术的飞速发展使机器人能够履行各种类似人类的功能，促使研究人员提议将此类技术用于为自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）患者开发干预措施并随后进行验证。尽管已提出多种机器人作为可能的治疗工具，但目前用于这些患者治疗的人形机器人的外观却千差万别。对于ASD患者如何体验这些不同的设计，人们知之甚少。在本研究中，我们系统地评估了16名ASD患者（年龄在10至17岁之间）对机器人外观的偏好。我们的数据表明，对于ASD患者，根据交互类型的不同，对不同类型机器人的偏好可能存在重要差异。具体而言，在我们的试点样本中，报告ASD症状水平较高的儿童表示，比起那些被认为更具机械感或吉祥物般的机器人，他们更喜欢特定的人形机器人。这项试点研究的结果表明，ASD患者对机器人交互的偏好和反应可能因人而异。未来的工作应评估如何系统地测量这些差异，并有可能利用这些差异来促进有意义的交互和干预模式。
