A ROBOT that teaches people key facial expressions could help boost the employment outlook for adults with autism, researchers have claimed.

The current UK unemployment rate is 4.4 per cent but just 14 per cent of adults with autism have a full-time job.

Researchers at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University have developed a robot called Alyx to teach people to recognise social cues.

Alyx displays approving or disapproving facial signals, the two most-used expressions at work, to help adults with autism deal with social signals in workplace situations.

Peter McKenna, research associate at Heriot-Watt, said: “Our analysis shows that there are certain facial expressions Alyx produces that are read similarly to a human face.

“This information is vital for developing a socially competent companion for our future work with autistic adults.

“At present, impaired social communication and interaction hold back the working potential of those with autism.

“However, robots like Alyx can help change this outcome.”

Initial work involved only the robot’s head, and the team is now working on a full-bodied version that will be able to teach further social skills.