'Tic Tac Toe'-playing robot can help stroke patients recover

Scientists have developed a robotic system that can play Tic Tac Toe, and could be used to help stroke survivors improve real-life task performance in a fun manner.

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Israel designed a game with a robotic arm to simulate "3D Functional Activities of Daily Living" - actions people undertake daily, like drinking from a cup, that are often a focus of rehabilitation.

Designing a social robot to help rehabilitate a patient is a new field which requires much research and experimentation in order to determine the optimal conditions.

"Playing Tic Tac Toe with a set of cups (instead of X's and O's) is one example of a game that can help rehabilitate an upper limb," said Shelly Levy-Tzedek of BGU.

"A person can pick up and place many cups while enjoying a game and improving their performance of a daily task," said Levy-Tzedek.

For the study published in the journal Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, researchers compared study participants' motivation to play with a robot vs a set of computer-controlled LED lights to determine the importance of interacting with an actual physical robot.

They tested the system on 62 healthy right-handed people from two age groups: 40 young adults around 25 years old (23 women and 17 men) and 22 older adults around 75 years old (10 women and 12 men).

Both groups preferred the robotic system over the LED lights system. The older adults said it was more human-like, while the young adults reported the robot "was more interesting, fun and appealing."