Autism, also known as autism, is not uncommon in today's society, according to WHO data, about one in 270 people in the world has autism spectrum disorder, but so far there is no clear way to completely cure autism. With the development of science and technology, robots are increasingly appearing in the rehabilitation training of autistic patients, such as the intelligent robot Pepper & NAO from SoftBank Robotics, which can help patients with training, relieve anxiety, and reduce social barriers as much as possible.
Before we look at how robots can help patients, let's take a look at what advantages robots have over humans.
For robots, the most obvious advantage is that they "don't get tired," and tired here is not only referring to the physical aspect, but also reflected in the psychological aspect. The robot does not mix too much emotion, even if the patient in front of the robot for thousands of times of repeated actions and questions, they will patiently accompany the patient, communicate.
Accompanying autistic patients to rehabilitation training is a long and difficult road, and it is also very tiring and patient in the process. For example, eye contact training and call response training in rehabilitation help patients build memories over and over again. This need to continue to repeat the process, the robot can play a full role!

NAO helps autistic children with rehabilitation training
Moreover, robots will be more systematic, objective and standard than humans in detecting the behavior of autistic patients, and the collected data can be used to help analyze the recovery of patients and promote follow-up treatment.
In addition, the robot is not biased. In fact, whether it is autistic patients or other diseases, the first obstacle encountered in life and treatment is the prejudice from others and the outside world, which will have a huge impact on the psychology of patients. So sometimes the emotional treatment can often make the patient more comfortable, more secure。
Last year, Pepper joined a University of the West of England research project to help autistic children aged 12-19 from Somerset special education schools improve their mental health. A lot of kids with autism can't control their emotions, and Pepper can give children full company by telling stories, singing and dancing together.
According to the Autistic Society, around one in 68 people in the UK has an autism-related condition and around 700,000 people are affected by the condition. Although autism affects everyone differently, there are some common symptoms, including difficulty communicating, difficulty empathizing with others, anxiety about unfamiliar environments, and a breakdown in response to loud noises.

Using robots to help people with autism is not new - previous research has focused on improving educational skills - but autistic participants in the project say it's not what they need. More than education,Pepper is able to communicate with these children in a way that they can accept and get them to open up.

Once a child communicates with Pepper, it asks the child how he or she is feeling at the moment: sad, happy or angry. The robot will also use appropriate activities, such as telling jokes and telling stories, to improve the child's current mood.

The school's vice principal said they have enjoyed interacting with Pepper since he arrived at the school. The best thing the teachers saw was that the kids would gather and talk to Pepper in groups. You know, it's a very rare thing for a child of a star to open his heart.
So from the technical level, how does the robot NAO help patients with rehabilitation training?
A simple example of eye contact and call answering mentioned at the beginning of the text. The NAO facial recognition system developed by SoftBank Robotics can quickly detect faces and conduct face tracking. When it senses your gaze, it also gives you some vocal response, creating an interaction.

NAO camera
In the call response training, the intelligent robot NAO appears to be more handy. NAO built-in microphone, through the technical program can set the dialogue content of NAO, speaking frequency and number of times. And unlike other emotionless robots, NAO has three colors of eyes that can convey different emotions, and can feel its presence while feeling you.

Built-in microphone
NAO can not only help with training, but also give feedback on the results of training. NAO has infrared detectors, two cameras in its forehead and nose, so NAO can sense a person's mood based on their expressions,For example, the corners of the mouth are raised, and there is a high probability that they are happy. In addition, you can also feel the change of mood through the voice tone of the other person,and that feedback can be sent by email, and we can keep track of how the patient is doing with the scientific data.

The robot NAO interacts with autistic people
In addition, autistic people tend to be more or less sensitive to external changes, and for sensitive people, the robot's neutral face is more acceptable. So in the world of people with autism, robots are more likely to be friends. Moreover, NAO's humanoid shape is very cute, and the height of 58 centimeters will not make children feel oppressed, which is more attractive。
In addition, NAO can also interact with patients through a number of small games, such as dancing simulation, sandbag throwing and other interactive games. The NAO will also record and analyze the game process to further track the patient's condition.

Autistic children dance with NAO
虽Although robots can well replace some functions of humans in the rehabilitation training of autistic patients, robots can not completely replace the role of humans in treatment at present. For physical contact and social interaction in training, the care and care that relatives can bring is incomparable to robots.
Humanoid intelligent robots not only want to help these "children of stars" physically and mentally, but also want to arouse people's awareness and better understand autism, so as to change people's attitudes towards autism. If we can help patients a little bit through scientific and technological means, even if it is a little bit, it is also the significance of scientific and technological progress, and it is also the higher goal we continue to pursue in the process of development!