A child with autism spectrum disorder might struggle to verbally communicate, as well as to pay attention to others around them and control their anxiety.

These difficulties can affect the child’s success at school, as well as their social life. A team of researchers have recently introduced QTrobot, a bot specially designed to help children with autism learn important social skills.

This QTrobot is slightly over two feet tall and has got a human like body and a screen in the place of where a human’s face would normally be. The bot can not only hear, talk, and see but it can also communicate non-verbally, as it projects facial expressions on the screen and makes gestures with its body.

Researchers have concluded that the QTrobot could potentially be useful in helping children with autism develop social skills. However, they are still not yet sure if it is as affective as other methods such as cognitive behavioural therapy and social skills classes.

More longer term studies will determine the true potential of this new robot, but for now it’s certainly worth a try.