Thursday, March 28, 2013

Mensa Speech: Robots for children with Autism

On 3/23/13 I was invited to speak at the Mensa Regional Gathering in Dayton, OH. http://www.dayton.us.mensa.org/index_files/RG.htm  It was my first time at a Mensa event and my first time publicly speaking about how robots can be used to help children with autism and other special needs.

You can download a copy of my presentation from J2RScientific.com

I brought my Gold J2 robot which is a prototype of a new type of J2 which I'm going to call the "J2 Action+"  It's a standard J2 chassis with articulated arms and addition electronics including a Bluetooth link and a wireless camera.  I hope to have more information about this robot model and pricing on www.J2RScientific.com soon. 

I also prepared a rather lengthy PowerPoint presentation.  I had an hour and half to speak and I must be more of a talker than I thought because I ended up going over my time and did not get to show everything I wanted to in as much detail.

It sure was a fun time.  Everyone I met was very nice and welcoming.  I received good feedback on my presentation.  I got the sense that everyone understood all of the robotics design concepts I brought up, even my thoughts on a new robot/artificial intelligence frame work.  I'm accustom to needing to cover topics from the prospective of audiences that need more general background information on robotic concepts.  I believe I could have presented information at a much higher level.  When giving a presentation it is hard to gage where your audience will fall in their background knowledge.

In short, the Mensa gathering was a delightful experience with a group of people who are funny, witty, interesting, knowledgeable on a wide range of topics and were very welcoming and friendly. 

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