Behavioural Cloning for Serious Games in Support of Pediatric Neurorehabilitation

Behavioural Cloning is a Machine Learning method concerning how a machine attempts to autonomously mimic the actions of a human, or in general a complex controller, performing a given task. This work innovatively exploits Behavioural Cloning in support of Pediatric Neurorehabilitation. In particular, an Artificial Neural Network Classifier has been implemented to autonomously adapt the difficulty, through a set of tunable parameters, of a Serious Game that was specifically developed to stimulate some relevant cognitive capabilities of the patient. Data augmentation via Behavioural Cloning allows such autonomous difficulty adaptation system to improve its classification performances and, thus, to enforce a control logic that, in turn, improves the effectiveness of the cognitive training. The system is validated through an experimental assessment on a Serious Game that trains motor coordination: experimental results of children gameplay are analyzed and discussed.