Jan 20 2011
Researchers at the Vrije University have built Probo, a robotic elephant for communicating with autistic children.
Probo Robot
The robot can hug with the help of its trunk and can exhibit several facial reactions, enabling autistic children to recognize expressions and communicate with people they encounter.
Presently, Probo is on an exchange program at the psychology department, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania. Trial experiments are conducted with autistic children and significant outcomes were reported in its communication.
The scientists have mentioned that the social gestures and interaction capabilities of the robot resemble a human. Probo’s actuated head has 20° of freedom and is capable of expressing facial reactions.
Source: http://www.vu.nl/