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Popchilla as a Therapy Tool for Autism media type="youtube" key="Ly71oA2rrhA" height="315" width="420"

Popchilla is an interactive robot therapy tool, which was designed in 2010 by the Autism Center of Pittsburgh. The scientists developed an iPad app, using a robot called Popchilla, to show children with autism social referencing skills. Most children with autism are not very concerned with people and can not read body language and have a difficult time learning social cues from others. Experts have found children in the autism spectrum interact better with robots than real people. Popchilla is a prototype that can be used by parents, teachers and therapists. It is small and mobile. The app for Popchilla contains different screens, which challenge the student to sing, verbalize sounds and funny noises and read other people's emotions. Since it is connected through the iPad, it is very easy to change and update information without having to change or update the robot. As the app grows, so will Popchilla, without the cost of upgrading to a new robot.