While Grant’s research applies to typical social interactions, other experiments using interactive technologies have been geared toward treating social disabilities. In British schools, testing has begun on a robot designed to teach autistic children how to communicate. And a study released in April showed that a virtual environment was useful for treating people with addictions. More importantly, Grant says her research confirms that communication and social skills are not diminishing, but changing, through the use of technology, as demonstrated by social networks like Facebook and MySpace. That is, if we didn’t have a need to be social, we wouldn’t use technology to seek social interactions.
