Pronunciation-Based Child-Robot Game Interactions to Promote Literacy Skills

In this paper we present additional results from a prior study of speech-based games to promote early literacy skills through child-robot interaction [6]. The additional data and results support our original conclusion, that pronunciation analysis software can be an effective enabler of speech child-robot interactions. We also include a comparison of other pronunciation services, an updated version of the SpeechAce API and a new technology from Soapbox Labs. We reflect on some lessons learned and introduce a redesigned version of the game interaction called `RhymeRacer' based on the results and observations from both data collections.