Can robots help level the playing field for children with disabilities?

A new basketball-playing robot called MyJay is part of a vision for a future in which social robots are accessible to children in public schools and libraries.

By Beth Gallagher University Relations

A new robot named MyJay that lights up when it scores a basket is just part of Kerstin Dautenhahn’s vision to build robots that give all children the ability to play games regardless of their abilities.

“I really believe social robots can make a positive contribution to society,” says Dautenhahn, a professor in Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering and Canada 150 Chair in Intelligent Robotics.

“I see how children respond to robots. I see the smiles on their faces, the laughing and excitement. I know we are on the right track.

“I want to use robots so children can not only learn but also have fun and play with others in ways that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to.”

Children with very limited mobility, who can perhaps only move their fingers, can direct MyJay to pick up a ball and shoot a basket. Dautenhahn and her team in the Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory (SIRRL) — Hamza Mahdi, Shahed Saleh and Omar Shari — are particularly interested in having children with special needs play games with friends and siblings who don’t have disabilities.

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