Introduction.

Transcription

1 A project to develop software to assist people with Autism to recognise, understand and express emotions through facial expressions, voice and body gestures

2 Introduction A project to develop software to assist people with Autism to recognise, understand and express emotions through facial expressions, voice and body gestures Primarily for children aged 5 to 10 Project by 7 organisations under a European Commission funded 3-year cooperative research project (FP7 programme) First version will be available in late 2014 (in English)

3 Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are neurodevelopmental conditions, characterised by difficulties in 3 main areas: communication, social interaction and understanding information. Common symptoms include restricted interests, repetitive behaviors, lack of eye contact. Current studies suggest 1% of the population might fit an ASC diagnosis (Baron-Cohen et al., 2009). Individuals with ASC lack the sense of social reciprocity and fail to develop and maintain age appropriate peer relationships. As a consequence, children with ASC are at high risk of social exclusion (Frith, 2003). Studies have shown that in ASC, the earlier intervention is provided, the more effective it is (Howlin & Rutter, 1987 ).

4 Emotion recognition in ASC Children and adults with ASC experience significant difficulties recognising others, as well as their own, emotions and mental states (Baron-Cohen, 1995; Hobson, 1993). Including facial expressions, vocal intonation, gestures and body language, and their integration in context (Golan, Baron-Cohen & Golan, 2008).

5 Emotional expression in ASC Individuals with ASC also experience difficulties in expressing their own emotions non-verbally, including the ability to: Direct appropriate facial expressions to others (Kasari et al, 1993) Modulate their vocal intonation appropriately when expressing emotion (McCann & Peppe, 2003) Using appropriate gestures and body language (Attwood, 1998). Integrating non-verbal communicative cues with speech (De Marchena & Eigsti, 2010).

6 Emotional understanding and expression in ASC In summary, individuals with ASC have a limited ability to interpret other people's intentions, emotions and mental states, and to express their own. These skills are not learned spontaneously in ASC, and therefore need to be taught explicitly. Without filling these gaps, the risk of exclusion for individuals with ASC is significantly increased.

7 Systematic strengths in ASC Individuals with ASC are hyper-attentive to detail and prefer predictable, rule-based environments and systems. Within such environments, individuals with ASC show good and sometimes even superior systemising skills, compared to the general population (Baron-Cohen, 2003). If provided with a system of emotions, it is plausible that systemising skills could be harnessed to help individuals with ASC learn to recognise emotions (Golan & Baron-Cohen, 2006). The computer provides individuals with ASC with such a predictable, rule-based environment, enabling them to capitalise on their systematic skills. Computerised socio-emotional training in ASC has been shown to change behavior, as well as brain functioning (Bölte et al., 2006)

8 Current needs and issues Studies attempting to teach emotion and mental state recognition to people with Autism have shown mixed results, reporting limited generalisation from taught curriculum to situations not included in the training program. Training of individuals with ASC requires facilitation by trained specialists, which is not always available, and may be quite expensive. In view of the growing prevalence of ASC, there is an urgent need to seek new innovative methods for supporting integration of children with ASC into society. Interactive Communication Technologies (ICT), may provide an easily available solution, enabling users everywhere to enjoy state-of-the-art professional support online.

9 Target Audience Children of age 5-10, with High- Functioning Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) Parents of children with High- Functioning ASC Therapists who specialise in ASC NGOs and governmental institutes that support the ASC population

10 Project main objectives 1. Create an internet-based service that will assist children with ASC and their carers to improve their socio-emotional communication skills. 2. Attend both to the recognition and to the expression of socio-emotional cues. 3. Attend to individual sensory channels (facial expressions, prosody, body language) separately, and to their integration in context. 4. Provide carers with professional information, principles to enhance generalisation, and tools to monitor child s progress.

11 Means to attain objectives 1. Create a personalised experience, adjusted to individual skills, motivations, and challenges 2. Use serious games, simulations, animation, video and audio clips. 3. Increase motivation through virtual world motivational elements. 4. Forums, information sheets, Q&A section, and professional information and reports on the child s progress for carers.

12 Product concept The product consists of several subsystems that are integrated together on an online virtual world platform to provide the user with a comprehensive, motivating experience. Subsystems included in the platform: 1. Facial expression analysis. 2. Body language and gesture analysis. 3. Vocal intonation analysis.

13 Product concept

14 Expected Project Impact 1. Increased motivation and interest of children in socio-emotional phenomena. 2. Improvement in children s expressive emotional repertoire (including facial expressions, vocal intonation, body language and vocabulary). 3. Improvement in children s emotion recognition skills (from facial expressions, voice intonation, body language, and context). 4. Improvement in parents socio-emotional awareness and socio-emotional mediation skills. 5. Improvement in children s social skills and adaptive behavior at home and in school.

15 Future impact 1. Improvement in children s social inclusion in and out of the educational system. 2. Decrease in reliance on professional support (e.g. speech and language pathologists, psychologists, special education teachers, tutors). 3. Increase in up-to-date evidence based professional service availability in rural areas in European countries.

16 Status and milestones Milestones Project kick off First version of the basic systems Experiments with system start First Integrated system Final project results Estimated start point end of year 1 end of year 2 end of year 2 end of project (year 3)

17 Project partners

18 Acknowledgements The research leading to this software product has received funding from the European Community s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7, ), under grant agreement n