When it comes to physical therapy for children with motor skill impairments, the tools available right now are helpful but also are somewhat limited.

Georgia Tech’s Human Automation Systems Lab is looking to change that by making a tool that has thus far shown great results.  It consists of two items already in a large amount of homes, Microsoft Kinect and a display of some sort.  This new system, dubbed the SuperPop Project, is especially helpful with children with cerebral palsy.  This system, which the kids see as a game, actually helps build their upper arm motor function.

SuperPop is totally customizable by the therapist and tailored for each individual child.  While the child plays, the software will track the user’s joints and collect the data for later analyzing for progress.

This system could turn out to be revolutionary in the world of therapy and could do wonders for the general well being of the patients.

[ source ]

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When I went to school for my psychology degree, it was quite common for my classmates to sign up as assistants for people who were doing applied behavior analysis (ABA) training and therapy for children with autism. Now, we could be looking at much more technological approach.

Say hello to Kaspar. He might look like some creepy doll who would be hanging out with Chucky on the weekends, but he’s actually a specially designed bot to help autistic children better recognize human emotions and social cues. That’s the biggest struggle with autism and it could be due to the variability in human responses.

That’s how Kaspar is supposed to help. His responses to stimuli — like when the child tickles his feet — are exactly the same every time. This helps the children get a better sense of predictability. That makes the world less scary for them and, as such, they slowly become better equipped to recognize social cues and emotional responses.

At least, that’s the idea. For my part, Kaspar just looks like a creepy doll. But hey, if he really is effective, all the more power to his creators.

[University of Hertfordshire]

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