Kaspar (robot)

Kaspar, which stands for Kinesics and Synchronisation in Personal Assistant Robotics, is a social robot designed by University of Hertfordshire's Adaptive Systems Research Group (ASRG). The Kaspar project began in 2005, drawing upon previous researches to develop a social robot for engaging autistic children in a variety of play scenarios. The aim was to research whether interacting and communicating with Kaspar would help children with autism interact and communicate more easily with people. This is important because there is mounting evidence that early intervention for children with autism may change the child's development trajectory.

Kaspar is a research tool with programmed responses adapted to be used by an autistic child in a safe, non-judgemental environment. The Kaspar research has shown that robots may provide a safe and predictable tool for children with autism, that enables the children to learn social interaction and communication skills, addressing specific therapeutic and educational objectives, (for example, being able to engage in direct eye-contact or shared eye-GAZE), in an enjoyable play context.