Sunday, December 4, 2016

Leka: A Tiny Robot That Helps Kids With Autism With Motor, Social & Emotional Skills

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There’s a new robot in town. Although it looks like any other toy robot, it is more of a companion, especially for children with Autism. Leka, the robot, encourages children with autism to develop social and motor skills by keeping them engaged and active. Leka has several apps that engage children in various activities. The Picture Bingo app, for example, shows them an object (like a banana) on the Leka screen, and asks them to find it. Once found, the child shows it to Leka, and it verifies if the correct object was picked. Hide and go app can be used to play a hide and seek sort of game. One child (or adult) shakes Leka and hides it, and the other child follows the sound that it makes from its hiding spot and goes find it. Several other fun apps guide and motivate the child to perform daily tasks through pictograms and verbal instructions.

Leka can be used by parents, caregivers and therapists to enable the child to develop several cognitive, motor, emotional, and social skills through play. Each app allows difficulty and guidance levels to be customized, and if the child is sensitive to certain lights or sounds, those can be turned off as well. Upcoming features (in 2018) include providing data to parents and therapists so they could see the progress the child is making.

Leka is priced at $490, and can be pre-ordered from their Indiegogo page. Watch the video below, and visit their Indiegogo page to learn more about Leka.

Image Gallery:

Simulate Child's Autonomy: Leka motivates and guides the child throughout the day to autonomously complete different daily tasks through pictograms displayed on its screen and vocal instructions.
Foster Family Harmony: Leka is focused on making social interaction easier with the child's family and surroundings through multiplayer games as well as reducing anxiety and stress.
Engage In Therapy: Leka helps parents, caregivers and therapists teach motor, cognitive, and emotional skills through play. Integrating Leka at home and in school will then help parents and therapists to stay connected.
Remote Control Leka
Night Light: Leka’s power lies in its ability to motivate children. This is why Leka will offer 3 autonomy-building apps such as Time-Timer, Alarm Clock, and Nightlight, common assistance tools for special needs children, making children and parent’s lives easier!
Picture Bingo App: Leka shows a banana to the user first. The user then finds real banana and shows it to Leka. Leka then confirms that it is a real banana.
Hide & Go Leka App: An adult hides the Leka. A child then follows the sounds being made by the hidden Leka and finds it.
Traveling Leka App: Leka makes the child find a specific color in a room. The child finds an object (on a wall) and shows it to Leka. Leka confirms the color.
Features of Leka: Movements & Gestures, Relaxing Colors, Sounds & Music, Soothing Vibrations, Apps & Games

Source: Fast Company




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