SPRITE - Social and pedagogical robots in the School for independent training and increased engagement
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Furhat Robotics AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 000 000 |
| Project duration | November 2015 - June 2017 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
This project is based on the awardwinning social robot Furhat and the aim is to evaluate its potential to be used as a pedagogical tool in schools. The project encompasses training of social skills for children with autismspectrum disorders, as well as knowledge training for typically developing children, and also to give to young people the opportunity to learn howto program human-robot interactions with social robots. (cognitive programming)
Expected results and effects
The project has fulfilled its goals by showing Furhat´s potential as an educational tool. the project has been exposed to the outside world through a number of articles in the press, as well as being presented at a number of fairs and events. Furhat also won the Swedish EdTech Startup Award 2016 thanks to this Vinnova project. Students, teachers and researchers, all agree that Furhat has an amazing potential to succeed as an educational tool.
Planned approach and implementation
Based on an initial workshop where representatives of Furhat Robotics and the two schools agreed on what to prioritize, FR has incrementally built and improved the tools and interfaces that enable students and teachers to build content for the educational tools within Furhat. The project partners have met on a regular basis in order to evaluate Furhat, both from an educational and a technical perspective. All parties are very pleased, and wish to continue if the opportunity is given.