Davison’s study made use of a Zeno robot that worked independently for four months at  Montessori primary school Het Zeggelt, with children from 6 to 9 years of age. The Zeno robot was able to give individual feedback on tasks and learning processes. In Davison’s view, a social robot can help to change a child’s mindset about their own learning process – for instance, in reacting to mistakes. Davison: “After making a mistake, children are often inclined to think ‘I can’t do that’ or ‘what’s the point, I won’t get it right anyway’. Zeno helps to motivate a child after a mistake has been made, and we saw that children who worked with the robot were better able to explain their reasoning. They also showed a growth in their mindset towards learning itself.”

In Davison’s study, two conditions were compared: in the control condition, the children worked with a computer system controlled by a tablet, while in the experimental condition the children worked with the same computer system, but which now included the Zeno robot.

Schadenberg’s research used the Zeno social robot in special needs schools in the Netherlands, the UK, and Serbia, as a learning assistant for autistic children being supervised by a teacher or a therapist. These children needed considerable support; some understood little spoken language or were simply unable to speak. By using extremely simple language, and by offering an alternative communication channel with the robot through a tablet, these children were able to follow the curriculum. 

An important element in the robot’s behaviour was its predictability, as this is an important concept in autism. Many autistic children have difficulty dealing with change, and therefore prefer predictable environments. While adult behaviour is sometimes hard to predict, a robot can easily be programmed to be extremely predictable. Schadenberg: “Our results showed that the children paid significantly more attention to their tasks when the robot displayed predictable behaviour. A robot can therefore be a useful tool for teachers and therapists in practising basic social skills because the children need to pay less attention to decoding unpredictable behaviour and can focus more closely on the learning material itself. We are talking here about the basic principles of social skills, as in time these children will also have to be able to apply their social skills in interactions with unpredictable people.”

One of the Zeno robots used in the DE-ENIGMA project, Serbian Society of Autism donated to the Anton Skala Elementary School in Belgrade. Due to the significant results during the project, they were very motivated to continue working on the development of social skills and emotion, which are a challenge for children with autism.