Abstract:
Socially assistive robots (SARs) have shown promise in helping children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) develop social skills. However, their effectiveness in group settings remains less understood. In this exploratory study, we investigated the use of the QTrobot in combination with the Rehabilitation Robotic Companion for Children and Caregivers (R2C3) platform within a social skills group (SSG) for children with ASD.
Six children aged 6 to 11 years participated and were randomly exposed to two conditions — active and inactive robotic interface — over a ten-week period. We monitored their progress through Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2 (ADOS-2) communication and social scores, as well as the number of engagement initiations and responses to social prompts recorded after each session. Additionally, we qualitatively assessed the feasibility and usability of the Wizard-of-Oz-operated R2C3 system and evaluated the design quality using the Design Information Communication Technology Inventory (DICTI).
The results showed that the presence of the robot did not hinder the effectiveness of the social skills group, with participants demonstrating significant improvement in social skills. When the R2C3 system was active, there was a notable increase in social initiations by the children, although no significant changes were observed in their responses to social requests or ADOS-2 scores.
Qualitative observations highlighted that QTrobot particularly encouraged social initiations during the early sessions. However, some limitations of the R2C3 interface were noted.
Overall, this exploratory study is promising, suggesting that the QTrobot combined with the R2C3 platform can effectively promote social initiations in children with ASD. Future research should focus on refining the interface to better support multi-party interactions and expanding the study with a larger participant group.
Reference:
Bettencourt, C., Grossard, C., Zou, J., Segretain, M., Bree, M., Pellerin, H., Anzalone, S.M., Chetouani, M. and Cohen, D., 2025. Investigating the Feasibility of a Wizard-of-Oz Robotic Interface (R2C3) in a Social Skills Group for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. International Journal of Social Robotics, pp.1-17.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12369-025-01243-4