Interbots Inc., a high-tech spin-off company that is associated with the Carnegie Mellon University Entertainment Technology Center, has come together with the Autism Center of Pittsburgh in order to deliver innovative robot-based therapy for children who have been diagnosed with autism. Known as “Character Therapy,” the program will use the Interbot robot “Popchilla” in order to test the ability of children with autism with limited or no verbal skills. The whole idea of using robots would be to encourage communication with a non-human entity from the kids themselves, in order to create a bridge between their world and ours. The Popchilla will part of the first phase of the program with a trained therapist, where programmers as well as Interbots developers have already created an iPad application which will enable the therapist to direct sessions. Said sessions will soon be transitioned to enable the child to control the robot via an iPad application to identify emotions. Do they have a robot to handle depression? [Press Release]