Table 1.

Therapist’s Cues to Adjust Robot’s Behaviour

Cue	Robot’s behaviour	Situation/problem
Follow me	The robot follows the therapist	Whenever the robot is needed to follow the therapist away from the child
Well done	The robot applauds and empowers the child saying “you did it, wow” having his eyes changing colour	Upon successfully completed task
Again	The robot utters an interjection (“Hmmm”) showing uncertainty and says “I am not sure, let’s try one more time”	When the task has to be repeated
Break	The robot stops whatever it’s doing and says “we need some time to relax”. This is used	When the child looks tired, performs stereotypical movements without stopping, does not participate in the scheduled tasks, lacks eye contact for a significant amount of time or does not respond to the therapist’s cues
Change	The robot stops whatever it is doing and says: “let’s do something different”	This phrase is used as a transition signal to the next task
Attention	The robot says: “this is not safe, I am going” and moves to the relaxation space	This phrase is used by the therapist when the child moves aggressively towards the robot or the therapist perceives a possible danger or when the child abuses toys or other therapeutic elements
Stop	The robot pauses and says “I am upset; I need some time to relax”	This is used when the child meltdowns, has a tantrum, is aggressive
Over	The robot enters the sleep mode	This phrase is used if the therapist realizes the existence of other technical problems that the robot itself cannot recognize
–	The robot informs the child: “I like your company a lot, but I have to rest”	Battery runs out
–	The robot informs the child: “I can’t see you”	When the child looks away in a scenario that the robot should record gaze