In London scientists have invented a system that enables a robot or computer avatar to help recover people suffering from Schizophrenia or social phobias.
According to research the computer avatar interacts with the patient while playing a mirror game, where the two players try to copy each other’s motion, while playing with colored balls that can move horizontally on a string.
At first the avatar is like alter ego, created to look similar and move like patient in order to enhance their feeling of attachment, and over time it is altered to became less similar therefore helping in Rehabilitation.
As according to researchers including those from the University of Bristol and University of Exeter in the UK, it is easier to interact with someone who looks, behaves or moves like us.
Results have shown the players with similar movement interact and coordinate better.
The principal of dynamic systems and feedback control theory is used in the research to insert enough intelligence in the computer avatar to synchronize and respond to the motion of human player.
