Music Play Using a Vibraphone with a Humanoid Robot as Interaction Training for Autistic Children

Since 1998 robots have been used as social mediators that interact with autistic children. In this paper, we use music as a mediator between a robot and an autistic child. The robot plays a music interaction game by using a vibraphone, what might be seen as a kind of music therapy. The purpose of this work was to provide a robot and other multi-media interaction equipment as an interactive tool for professionals to reach the attention of their autistic pupils. The equipment has been used in a special care school in Taiwan. In this paper we focus on the technical aspects of this environment. We also briefly report first experiences with this type of multi-media environment sessions in the school.