November 2, 2009

Robots That Care

By Kelley Luckstein

Born in Belgrade, in what was then Yugoslavia, Maja Matarić originally wanted to study languages and art…

 

Now forty-four and a professor of computer science at the University of Southern California, she has begun working with stroke and Alzheimer’s patients and autistic children, searching for a way to make machines that can engage directly with them, encouraging both physical and cognitive rehabilitation…

 

AnthroTronix is now shifting away from using CosmoBot as a therapeutic device and recently received a grant from the Department of Education. A Phase II study in Minnesota, run by the Mayo Clinic with funds from the National Institutes of Health, is pilot-testing CosmoBot for children with individualized education plans that require physical therapy, including those with neurodevelopmental disorders or cerebral palsy. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires schools to provide assistive technology to children, and Lathan hopes that “there will be a little more open-mindedness.”

 

The New Yorker by Jerome Groopman, 11/2/09

Tags: cognitive rehabilitation, CosmoBots, Neurology, Research, robots

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