Meet Kaspar: An Autistic Friendly Robot From London

With the number of newly discovered autism cases rising at quick rates, it was only a matter of time before scientists figured out a way for technology to serve the millions of children diagnosed with the condition. Today that technology comes to us in the form of Kaspar, a child friendly robot that was designed by researchers in London with Austic children in mind.

Scientists control the robot (pictured above) with a remote control, typically in 10 minute sessions, the robot interacts with the child, allowing them to learn proper social interaction skills. According to SlashGear a 4-year-old girl named “Eden Sawczenko improved a lot with her social interaction after having several 10-minute sessions interacting with the robot alongside a scientist who controlled Kaspar with a remote.”

Kaspar was built with human emotions in mind which means it can smile, frown, blink, wave its arms and laugh at the most basic levels of use, while a “pro version” of Kaspar is actually capable of playing the Nintendo Wii.

Kaspar’s newest update even has special “cells” which allow the robots outer surface to feel like human skin.

You can pick your own robot up at the University of Hertfordshire for $1,300 pounds or approximately $2,118. According to researchers, the robot has already helped nearly 300 autistic children throughout Britain.