The National Robotarium

Dr Thusha Rajendran: Robots and artificial intelligence are a part of our future. So harnessing their powers to help people with autism all over the world today, will help millions tomorrow.

In the UK, only sixteen percent of adults with an autism spectrum disorder are in full-time employment but our research shows that with the right training, many more could fulfill their potential…helping them, their families and society.

So, how can robots help those with autism in the work place?

Our research at Heriot-Watt will help, through our pioneering use of a Flash Robot that can produce human-like emotions.

The aim is to help those with autism better understand the expressions of others, aiding them in the work place when interacting with co-workers and boosting their confidence at the same time.

The Flash Robot can also help employers understand how they may need to change their workplace practices to help employees with autism.

We want to ensure that today's technology can be used to make a difference tomorrow and by helping those who truly need it, our research can effect significant change.

Professor Lemon: OK Google… Hey Siri… Alexa - let's chat…

Voice interactive systems are all around us – at home, at work or even on your wrist.

At Heriot-Watt's Interaction Lab, we're developing technology that machines can understand to help them generate human language and join us in conversations.

Why are we doing this? Well, spoken conversation is the most efficient, natural, and enjoyable method of communication that we have. Allowing computers to speak with us naturally and easily will open up more devices and services to more people.

Our research is developing the technology that can make such human-level communication skills a reality - for future systems that will cooperate intelligently with us.

In fact, our AI system is currently leading the 2018 Amazon Alexa Challenge, an international contest to develop a socially intelligent conversational AI for the Amazon Echo platform.

Our Interaction Lab is one of the few places in the world that has pioneered the use of machine learning methods, meaning our research could help everyone – from people with disabilities to surgeons, drivers and cooks – to perform difficult tasks hands free, making even the most complicated things accessible and achievable in every-day life.