Autism is a disorder of brain development, characterized by difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviors.
Increasing awareness and investigation of autism through research has the potential to improve the lives of those who struggle with autism.
Inventor Marek Michalowski is the co-creator of Keepon, a social robot originally invented for interaction with kids suffering with developmental disorders like autism.
The robot was created with cameras for eyes and a microphone for a nose, allowing a therapist to interact with kids from a different room than the one where kids were located. During his work to program Keepon to dance, Michalowski made a video to show his friends what he was working on. The video quickly went viral and as a result the inventor got thousands of requests from the general public to create a toy version of Keepon.
That’s how Keepon came to be one of the most popular toy robots on the market. The toy version of Keepon doesn’t come with cameras, but can dance better than many grown ups. Best of all, part of the sales profits of Keepon goes towards research on how robots can help kids with autism.
Watch this interview with Mark Michalowski.
Article source: http://inventornotes.com/2013/01/19/autistic-robot-does-good/
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