University of Malta Centre for Literacy is being financed by Residency Malta Agency with the initiative of EduRoboKids by investing €85,000 in social robots and an educational intervention programme. The two-year project will study how verbal and multimodal interaction takes place between humans and robots, how children on the autism spectrum respond verbally and emotionally to robots in learning situations and what kind of problem-solving situations children have in communicating with robots.
Robotic systems targeted towards people on the autism spectrum, especially children, are a growing subfield of social robotics and human-robot interaction (HRI) research.
Professor Charles L. Mifsud, Centre for Literacy director at the University of Malta, ideator and driver of the project, introduced Tommy the Robot to the press and explained how through this project, learners will be able to interact with a social robot but also programme it, train it to remember and learn things over time, and have reflective conversations with their peers, prompted by it. This is not the first time that the Centre for Literacy is moving towards an AI simulated learning environment,. Earlier this year, the project AILit was introduced in order to promote literacy using Embodied Intelligent Agents.
“The humanoid and social robots will act as learning companions for the children. The robot has assimilated human traits, which will help the students interact more. They will not serve as substitute teachers. There is a large body of international research evidence which shows that such social robots can provide effective learning support. This is the most highly developed humanoid robot and ‘Tommy’ is the first one in Malta. The aim is to help children overcome learning challenges, especially those on the autism spectrum.” said Professor Mifsud. “The EduRoboKids solutions will test child engagement, language development, interaction and communication levels and the gaining of general literacy skills. We are grateful to Residency Malta Agency for choosing to support our research.
The project work will be implemented in three phases which will include the testing of solutions, digital and connectivity support, educator training and the production of training materials. This will be followed by piloting the project with a number of children, parents and educators.
Additionally Pro Rector Tanya Mifsud Bonnici stated that “The introduction of this robot is considered as very innovative and although there can be resistance when it comes to trying out new technology we must remember that the University is there for experimentation, in this case in the educational sector. The Internet of things is something that is an integrated part of our lives nowadays. I am proud that we have dedicated academics here at the University who are working towards a better future for humanity.”
Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Communities, Alex Muscat said: “There is no better investment than in the education of our children, who will become the citizens of tomorrow. We are more than pleased to be supporting such an initiative, as part of Residency Malta’s corporate social responsibility commitments. It is opportunities like these which tangibly show how income derived from foreign investment can be diverted to social initiatives that benefit our community.”
Charles Mizzi, Chief Executive Officer of Residency Malta Agency said: “This initiative is very much aligned with our core values, one of which is to build links between our beneficiaries and the community, by supporting local projects that give value to our society.”