Customer

University of Notre Dame

Researchers at the University of Notre Dame's psychology department are using the Affectiva Q Sensor to measure how children diagnosed with autism respond to an interactive robot intended to augment interventions.

Challenge

Notre Dame researchers Joshua Diehl, Charles Crowell and Michael Villano along with therapist Kristin Wier are measuring how children diagnosed with autism respond to interactions with a humanoid robot during therapy sessions. The Notre Dame team is not developing the robot but rather is integrating it into therapy as a way to augment existing interventions.

The idea is that the children often have an intrinsic interest in technology. The robot is technological but also has human characteristics. By practicing social interactions with the robot during therapy, children may be able to develop social skills in a more engaging and less stressful manner than with human. Robots don't react negatively and can reduce the stress of making social mistakes. Once the children hone their social skills, they should be able to interact more smoothly with people.

The challenge is to measure children's responses to the robots and improvements in their comfort levels over time. Therapists can gauge a child's reaction by looking at her overt behavior such as smiling and frowning. The team also wants to understand what is happening "beneath the skin" by measuring of physiological signs of stress such as electro-dermal activity (EDA - also known as skin conductance or Galvanic Response). Most affective measurement devices require confining children and attaching wires to them, which "simply wouldn't work" said Dr. Crowell.

Key Activities

In October 2010, the Notre Dame team began testing the wireless, wearable Q Sensor on children to see how its EDA readings compare to readings from a tethered system BIOPAC Systems, Inc. that is often used in physiological research. The comparisons are "very similar" and "we're happy to use the Q Sensors for the projects," said Dr. Crowell.

Through the end of 2010 and into the spring of 2011, the team is piloting the Q Sensor on roughly 25 children with autism spectrum disorder who come to see Ms. Wier for services. In this pilot, they will use Q Sensors first to measure the children's affective response to therapists, then to therapy that involves the robot. Therapy can include practicing simple conversation, such as recalling their day in back-and-forth conversation. The robot acts as an additional participant who gives feedback to the child. It can even take over from the therapist as the interaction partner.

"One possible outcome of the project is the identification of any distinctive affective responses children with autism may have to robots in comparison to other humans," said Dr. Diehl.

The project is supported by the National Institutes of Health Indiana Clinical Translation Sciences Institute and a Rodney F. Ganey, Ph.D. Collaborative Community-Based Research Grant.

Bottom Line

The wireless, wearable Q Sensor enables the Notre Dame researchers to measure children's affective response to robot-enhanced therapy without confining them to stationary measure devices.

Future

If the pilot goes well, the team plans to start broader use of the robot-enhanced therapy and Affectiva Q Sensor in the spring of 2011. "We'll keep going as long unanswered questions remain or until we've exhausted all avenues of exploration. But we're looking for lots of positive results," said Dr. Diehl.

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