Robots As Transitional Objects For Young Children

Here, the psychological construct of transitional objects is presented, along with animism and suspension of disbelief in order to provide guidelines and inspiration for Human-Robot Interaction directed to young users. In par- ticular, we will focus on bedtime and children sleeping alone, which is critical after the separation from their mother. Also, the interaction paradigm of mouth exploration and tongue interaction is presented as particularly promising for young children.