Assessing Interactive Avatars for Use with Children with Autism

评估用于自闭症儿童的互动化身

• 批准号: 8451890
• 负责人: Elizabeth Jeanne Carter
• 金额: $ 7.29万
• 依托单位: CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-04-01 至 2014-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/8451890
• 关键词: Accounting; Address; Age; Appearance; Attention; Auditory; Autistic Disorder; Behavior; Characteristics; Child; Child Behavior; Cognition; Cognitive Science; Communication; Computers; Development; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual; Educational process of instructing; Effectiveness; Emotional; Eye; Face; Facial Expression; Future; Gestures; Human; Individual; Intervention; Knowledge; Laboratory Study; Language; Life; Methods; Modification; Motion; Movement; Neurosciences; Participant; Pattern; Performance; Population; Process; Reading; Research; Research Personnel; Role; Science; Social Behavior; Social Interaction; Speech; Speed; Stereotyped Behavior; System; Technology; Testing; Time; Training; Triad Acrylic Resin; Visual; Work; animation; autism spectrum disorder; base; central coherence; computer generated; computer human interaction; cost effective; developmental disease; flexibility; gaze; improved; information processing; interest; research study; skills; social; social communication; social skills; theories; treatment program

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Autism is characterized by deficits in communication, social interactions, and unusual interests and stereotyped behaviors. Individuals with autism often perform better on tasks with reduced levels of perceptual complexity. This proposal will investigate how children with autism interact with computer-generated avatars with multiple levels of physical detail and movement characteristics to determine the effects of these modifications on social interactions. The main hypothesis of the proposed studies is that the social deficits observed in children with autism will be ameliorated during interactions with characters with reduced levels of detail. Specifically, we will build upon the existing work to use avatars to test the effects of modifications in appearance and motion complexity on conversation behaviors. Laboratory studies will include verbal children with autism between the ages of six and ten years. A new, state-of-the-art technology will be used that allows for live interactions and spontaneous conversations between the participant and an actor with various appearances. This research will be the first to compare the behaviors of children with autism while they interact with multiple types of avatars and among the first to use live, unstructured interactions with unconstrained scripts between avatars and children with autism. The avatars will vary in appearance complexity as well as motion complexity and the amount of visual and auditory complexity presented over time. This work will increase knowledge about basic perceptual processes in autism and impact future interventions with this population. The proposed research will build upon recent progress in animation methods, cognitive science, developmental science, and human-computer interaction research. Moreover, it will have implications for treatment practices with computer-based interventions for children with autism by informing investigators about the appropriate selection and use of various avatars.

描述（由申请人提供）：自闭症的特征是沟通、社会互动方面的缺陷，以及不寻常的兴趣和刻板行为。自闭症患者通常在感知复杂性较低的任务上表现得更好。该提案将研究自闭症儿童如何与计算机生成的具有多层次物理细节和运动特征的虚拟形象互动，以确定这些修改对社会互动的影响。提出的研究的主要假设是，在自闭症儿童中观察到的社交缺陷将在与细节水平较低的人物互动时得到改善。具体来说，我们将在现有工作的基础上进行构建