Intervention Deploying an Autonomous Robot Promotes Eye Gaze Abilities of Autistic Children: Comparison With a Human-Based Intervention

Background & Aims

Autistic children have difficulties establishing and maintaining eye contact. Previous interventions for eye gaze rely on human professionals, who may be too costly or even inaccessible to many families of autistic children. These challenges have led to the application of technology, such as social robots, the use of which in autism therapy is theory-driven. Thus, the present study examined whether robot-based intervention (RBI) and human-based intervention (HBI) improved autistic children's eye gaze.

Methods

In this randomized controlled trial study, 121 Chinese-speaking autistic children aged 4–9 years (34 females) participated and were randomly assigned to three conditions: RBI, HBI, and waitlist control. The robot/human experimenter narrated stories while detecting the eye gaze of the autistic children. They prompted the child if he/she lost eye contact with the robot/human continuously for more than 5 s. Children's eye gaze abilities were evaluated in both the experimental setting and parental report.

Results

Our experimental data showed that the children in the RBI had their eye gaze improved 1 month after the intervention. Their parents also perceived their autistic children to have better eye contact immediately and 1 month after intervention. Parents of the children in the HBI reported an improvement in eye gaze 1 month after intervention, which was not evident in the experimental setting. Children in the waitlist group did not show any improvement.

Conclusion

The present study showed that RBI could promote the eye gaze of autistic children under the conditions studied.

Implication

Our innovative design for RBI addresses clinicians’ concerns about the capacity to interact with autistic children in real time. Specific hands-on training workshops should be offered to enhance clinicians’ knowledge and skills in using robots in the clinical context.

This randomized controlled trial was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (no. ChiCTR2300073238).