Kindergarten social assistive robot: First meeting and ethical issues

Kindergarten Social Assistive Robot (KindSAR) is an innovative tool that promotes children's development through social interaction. In this report we describe how KindSAR was introduced to a group of preschool children in a one-to-many setup, and how it engaged the children in play-like interactions. Ethical guidelines were successfully implemented. Children's (N = 11) reactions and performance were video-recorded for analysis. Most of the children interacted positively with the robot, exhibited heightened attention, performed motor and cognitive tasks, and reported a high degree of enjoyment of the interaction. A relationship was observed between children's poor social skills and their refusal to participate in interaction with the robot. A many-to-one setup was found to be preferable to a one-to-one setup. This study demonstrates the feasibility and potential benefit of incorporating KindSAR in preschool education. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.