Iranian Scientists Make ‘Taban’ Robot to Help Children with Dyslexic Disorder

“Taban robot was built as the ninth robot of Sharif University of Technology social cognitive robotics laboratory with the aim of helping dyslexic children and it is completely up-to-date with the help of artificial intelligence. The software of Taban robot enjoys the capability to implement robot movement scenarios, recognize different people, change the robot's facial expressions, recognize speech and sound, and play animations,” Mojtaba Shahab, a PhD student of mechanical engineering at Sharif University of Technology, told ANA.

Noting that the robot interacts with the child in the clinical interventions department in the three roles of teacher assistant, fellow student and novice and enjoys the capability to communicate with the child in three ways, he said, “The first method is facial recognition by using a camera, the second method is using a microphone and the ability to process voice and talk to the child, and in the last method, an application is designed for the robot to raise questions and answer the child’s questions and play with him/her.”

“A monitor has been mounted on the robot's chest and is like a blackboard on which the robot can, for instance, show its training exercises to the child. Taban also gives feedback when the child answers the questions,” Shahab said.

In a relevant development in March 2023, a team of Iranian researchers had also found that a cute little robot named QT may help children with learning disabilities (LD) stay focused.

Students with learning disabilities (LD) struggle with specific skills like reading, writing, or math, and often require individualized and additional support to fill educational gaps.

A cute little robot may help children with learning disabilities stay focused, a team of Iranian researchers and foreign experts have found.

QT robot is an expressive little humanoid designed as a tool for therapists and educators. It uses facial expressions, gestures, and games to teach children with autism spectrum disorder about communication, emotions, and social skills.

QT robot was born in 2016. The robot is the brainchild of two Iranian scientists named Pouyan Ziyafti and Aida Nazari Khorram. QT was the first robot created specifically as a tool to help children with LD or Autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This robot can pose with its head and arms, show facial expressions and speak.

In this research, three researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, two experts from the Learning Disabilities Association in Vancouver, Canada, and a humanoid robot named QT were present.

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