Project description Advanced RoboticsState of the art research emphasises the important role of play in child development as a crucial vehicle for learning about the physical and social environment, the self, and for developing social relationships. IROMEC targets children who are prevented from playing, either due to cognitive, developmental or physical impairments which affect their playing skills, leading to general impairments in their learning potential and more specifically resulting in isolation from the social environment. IROMEC will investigate how robotic toys can provide opportunities for learning and enjoyment. The developed robotic system will be tailored towards becoming a social mediator, empowering children with disabilities to discover the range of play styles from solitary to social and cooperative play. Robustness, dependability as well as "plug&play" operation of the robot system are specially addressed.A novel framework for robotic social mediators will be developed and evaluated by means of a dedicated robot setup in the context of therapy and education. The research focus of IROMEC is on the user oriented definition of appropriate play scenarios, development of evaluation methods, definition of robot behaviours and interaction modes, and finally a system development compatible with safety as well as market demands. Outcomes of IROMEC will demonstrate on a conceptual, experimental, and technological level the novel role of a robotic mediator in therapy and education of children who are usually prevented from play. IROMEC aims to set the basis of a new product and service in the area of special education and thus is in line with the focus of the given strategic objective.IROMEC brings together 8 multidisciplinary partners from pedagogy, psychology, ICT and robotics. This consortium ensures that IROMEC will not only end up answering academic questions but succeeds in producing economical and viable results with a time-to-market of less than two years after project completion. Show the project objective Hide the project objective State of the art research emphasises the important role of play in child development as a crucial vehicle for learning about the physical and social environment, the self, and for developing social relationships. IROMEC targets children who are prevented from playing, either due to cognitive, developmental or physical impairments which affect their playing skills, leading to general impairments in their learning potential and more specifically resulting in isolation from the social environment. IROMEC will investigate how robotic toys can provide opportunities for learning and enjoyment. The developed robotic system will be tailored towards becoming a social mediator, empowering children with disabilities to discover the range of play styles from solitary to social and cooperative play. Robustness, dependability as well as "plug&play" operation of the robot system are specially addressed.A novel framework for robotic social mediators will be developed and evaluated by means of a dedicated robot setup in the context of therapy and education. The research focus of IROMEC is on the user oriented definition of appropriate play scenarios, development of evaluation methods, definition of robot behaviours and interaction modes, and finally a system development compatible with safety as well as market demands. Outcomes of IROMEC will demonstrate on a conceptual, experimental, and technological level the novel role of a robotic mediator in therapy and education of children who are usually prevented from play. IROMEC aims to set the basis of a new product and service in the area of special education and thus is in line with the focus of the given strategic objective.IROMEC brings together 8 multidisciplinary partners from pedagogy, psychology, ICT and robotics. This consortium ensures that IROMEC will not only end up answering academic questions but succeeds in producing economical and viable results with a time-to-market of less than two years after project completion. Fields of science social scienceseducational sciencesspecial educationsocial scienceseducational sciencespedagogysocial sciencespsychologyengineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringrobotics Programme(s) FP6-IST - Information Society Technologies: thematic priority under the specific programme "Integrating and strengthening the European research area" (2002-2006). Topic(s) IST-2005-2.6.1 - Advanced Robotics Call for proposal FP6-2005-IST-6 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme STREP - Specific Targeted Research Project Coordinator PROFACTOR GMBH EU contribution € 241 793,00 Address - 2444 Seibersdorf Austria See on map Activity type Research Organisations Total cost No data Participants (9) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all ARC SEIBERSDORF RESEARCH GMBH Participation ended Austria EU contribution € 0,00 Address DONAU-CITY STR. 1 1220 WIEN See on map Activity type Research Organisations Total cost No data RISOLUTA TECNOLOGIA CON ESPIRITU SLL Spain EU contribution € 40 218,00 Address CALLE TECNOLOGIA 10 11407 JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, CADIZ See on map Activity type Other Total cost No data ASOCIACION DE INVESTIGACION DE LA INDUSTRIA DEL JUGUETE, CONEXAS Y AFINES Spain EU contribution € 115 063,00 Address AVENIDA DE LA INDUSTRIA 23 03440 IBI (ALICANTE) See on map Activity type Research Organisations Total cost No data ROBOSOFT SA France EU contribution € 363 118,00 Address TECHNOPOLE D'IZARBEL 64210 BIDART See on map Activity type Other Total cost No data UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DI SIENA Italy EU contribution € 292 240,00 Address VIA BANCHI DI SOTTO 55 53100 SIENA See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Total cost No data UNIVERSITA DELLA VALLE D'AOSTA Italy EU contribution € 257 160,00 Address STRADA CAPPUCCINI 2/A 11100 AOSTA See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Total cost No data STICHTING WETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK REVALIDATIEVRAAGSTUKKEN Participation ended Netherlands EU contribution € 188 219,00 Address ZANDBERGSWEG 111 6432 CC HOENSBROEK See on map Activity type Research Organisations Total cost No data STICHTING VILANS Netherlands EU contribution € 0,00 Address CATHARIJNESINGEL 47 3511 GC UTRECHT See on map Total cost No data THE UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE HIGHER EDUCATION CORPORATION United Kingdom EU contribution € 442 700,00 Address COLLEGE LANE AL10 9AB HATFIELD, HERTFORDSHIRE See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Total cost No data