DIP: Collaborative Research: Social Robots as Mechanisms for Language Instruction, Interaction, and Evaluation in Pre-School Children

该项目利用社交机器人领域的新兴技术，以及社交、发展和认知心理学的最新发现，设计、实施和评估新一代机器人，这些机器人能够以真正的社交方式与年轻学习者（3至6岁）互动并指导他们。机器人融合了大脑用来确定他人意图、动机和联系的信号（例如，运动模仿和同步、情感线索、凝视方向），使其能够成为人类教练的真正化身。机器人平台可以通过直接和近距离的连接或远程的基于互联网的操作界面进行远程控制。因此，该系统可以放置在几个不同的环境中，从儿童的家到医疗领域，在这些环境中，由于活动能力或免疫抑制的问题，很难与教师直接互动。研究的目的是更好地理解儿童对机器人思维和机器人作为代理人的概念，揭示学习新单词背后的心理操作，并增加对非语言话语对理解、沟通和协作的附加值（如果有的话）的了解。新兴研究发现，早期语言和词汇技能的习得是日后学业成功的主要预测因素。进入幼稚园时词汇量不足，预示着随后的学习成绩不佳。因此，在学龄前使用旨在建立词汇的技术是促进多种学习的关键。与机器人语言伙伴的互动预计会对儿童产生特别重要的影响，因为他们有机会与细心、有教养的照顾者进行定期互动，这些照顾者愿意并能够促进他们重要的社会智力发展需求。此外，为该项目创建的基本原理、人工产品、网络平台和基础设施可以为其提供广泛的设计扩展，例如为学习英语作为第二语言的儿童提供参与以英语为基础的社会活动的机会，向儿童很少参加社会活动的农村地区伸出援手，支持失聪父母的儿童，评估和帮助有语用障碍的儿童。

This project is leveraging emerging technologies in social robotics with recent findings from social, developmental, and cognitive psychology to design, implement, and evaluate a new generation of robots that is capable of interacting with and instructing young learners (ages 3 through 6) in a truly social way. The robot incorporates signals that the mind implicitly uses to ascertain another's intentions, motivations, and affiliations (e.g., motor mimicry and synchrony, affective cues, gaze direction), making it capable of serving as a true embodiment of a human instructor. The robotic platform can be controlled remotely, through a direct and proximate connection or a remote, Internet-based operator interface. As such, the system can be placed in several different environments, ranging from a child's home to medical areas where issues of mobility or immunosuppression make it difficult for direct interaction with instructors. Research is aimed at better understanding children's concepts of robot mind and of robots as agents, uncovering mental operations behind learning new words, and adding to what is known about the added value (if any) of non-verbal utterances to understanding, communication, and collaboration.Emerging research has identified the acquisition of early language and vocabulary skills primary predictors of later academic success. Impoverished vocabulary upon entering kindergarten strongly predicts poor subsequent academic performance. Accordingly, the use of technologies designed to build vocabulary during the preschool years is key to facilitating many types of learning. Interactions with a robotic language partner are expected to have particularly important ramifications for children with compromised opportunities to interact regularly with attentive, nurturing caregivers willing and able to foster their vital socio-intellectual developmental needs. In addition, the rationales, artifacts, and cyber platforms and infrastructure created for this project could lend themselves to a broad range of design extensions, such as providing opportunities for children who are learning English as a second language to participate in English-language-based social activities, outreach to rural areas where children have infrequent access to social activities, supporting children of deaf parents, and assessing/assisting children with pragmatic language impairments.