I-Corps: Digital therapeutics software solutions for autistic children

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是为自闭症儿童开发培训软件。目前，近3%的儿童被诊断为自闭症，只有三分之一的儿童接受了他们需要的心理健康服务。所有自闭症儿童都有在不同活动和环境之间过渡的困难，这给他们和他们的照顾者造成了压力。这项拟议的技术为教师、照顾者和家长创造了可定制的软件解决方案，包括学术材料和课程教具。目前的软件解决方案不能满足他们的需求，因为它们是“一刀切”的，不允许定制。提出的解决方案将孩子对科技的热爱与父母对他们兴趣的洞察结合在一起，为他们提供他们需要的个性化治疗和教育。根据每个孩子的兴趣和需求来训练视觉感知和过渡的用户体验将使用娱乐作为学习的环境。这将吸引儿童的注意力和动机，并可能允许用户将学习从软件环境转移到他们的日常任务中，支持治疗师、教师和父母。这个i-Corps项目基于针对自闭症儿童的软件干预开发。这项拟议的技术旨在提供视觉疗法来训练视力，并将包括帮助自闭症儿童和青少年在日常生活中交流和获得独立的视觉时间表。数字图像处理方法和软件建立在先前对大脑回路、人类视觉感知和学习以及自闭症小鼠模型的经验基础上。用户识别沉浸在描绘城市和自然景观的摄影自然主义背景中的目标人物。目标是帮助自闭症儿童训练他们在识别字母、单词、数字、形状和物体方面的视觉敏锐度。对于自闭症儿童来说，在任务和行为之间转换尤其具有挑战性。使用这种方法的结果表明，通过练习，个体可以学习更有效地识别目标图形，并将注意力分配到与手头任务相关的元素上。拟议的软件需要在不同的视觉场景中识别不同的人物，以帮助用户训练认知灵活性和转换，在不同的注意目标之间交替。通过实践，拟议的软件可能有助于训练注意力技能和任务与行为之间的转换，并将包括学术材料和课程辅助材料作为教育支持。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of training software for autistic children. Currently, almost 3% of children are diagnosed with autism and only one-third receive the mental health services they need. All autistic children have difficulties transitioning between different activities and environments, creating stressful situations for them and their caregivers. The proposed technology creates customizable software solutions, including academic materials and curriculum aids, for teachers, caregivers, and parents. Current software solutions do not meet their needs because they are “one size fits all” and do not allow customization. The proposed solution combines children’s love for technology with parents’ insights about their interests to provide them with the personalized therapy and education they need. User experiences to train visual perception and transitions based on each child’s interests and needs will employ amusement as the context for learning. This will engage children’s attention and motivation, and may allow users to transfer learning from a software environment to their everyday tasks, supporting therapists, teachers, and parents.This I-Corps project is based on the development of software interventions for autistic children. The proposed technology is designed to provide vision therapy to train visual acuity, and will include visual schedules to help autistic children and teenagers communicate and gain independence in their daily lives. The digital image processing methodology and software was built upon previous experience in brain circuits, visual perception and learning in humans, and mouse models of autism. Users identify target figures immersed in photographic naturalistic backgrounds depicting city and nature landscapes. The goal is to help autistic children train their visual acuity in identifying letters, words, numbers, shapes, and objects. It is particularly challenging for autistic children to shift between tasks and behaviors. Results using this approach show that with practice, individuals can learn to identify target figures more efficiently and to allocate attention to elements that are relevant for the task at hand. The proposed software requires identifying different figures in different visual scenes to help users train cognitive flexibility and transitions, alternating between different targets of attention. With practice, the proposed software may help train attentional skills and transitions between tasks and behaviors, and will include academic materials and curriculum aids as educational support.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.