Algorithms and Sensors for Sonification of Emotion: New Technology for ASD

情感可听化的算法和传感器：自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 新技术

• 批准号: 477321-2014
• 负责人: Boyd, Jeffrey
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Engage Grants Program
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=565736
• 关键词: Algorithms; Sensors; Sonification; Emotion; New

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) "are characterized by social deficits and communication difficulties, stereotyped or repetitive behaviors and interests, sensory issues, and in some cases, cognitive delays"[wikipedia.org]. According to Health Canada, "International studies indicate that about one in every 150-160 children has autism" [hc-sc.gc.ca]. Reality Controls (Vancouver, BC) has a broad interest in interactive technologies that assist and enable people in a variety of situations, including assisting people with ASD. The Video and Motion Analysis (VMA) lab in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary has a track record of developing systems that assist athletes in acquiring and perfecting motor skills, by measuring an athletes motion and providing real-time assistive feedback in the form of sound (i.e. sonification). The goal of this project is to bring the technological knowledge on motion and sonification from the VMA lab to bear on challenges involving assistive technology for ASD being developed by Reality Controls. We will investigate several wearable sensors that have the potential to measure the wearer's emotional state, e.g., heart rate monitors and motion sensors. When the measurements are sonified in real-time, the wearer can hear their own emotional state as a sound pattern. Thus a patient with ASD wearing such a device can learn to hear an emotional state. If another person (real or simulated in a game environment) wears the sensor, and the ASD patient can hear the sound, the patient will hear the emotional state, potentially overcoming a communication challenge that many ASD patients face. Ultimately, we hope that such a system will enable ASD patients to first bridge this communication gap, and then use it to learn coping mechanism that they can apply in daily life. We anticipate that a successful project will lead to a product that embodies this emotion-to-sound process.

自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的特征是社交缺陷和沟通困难，刻板或重复的行为和兴趣，感觉问题，在某些情况下，认知迟缓。根据加拿大卫生部的说法，“国际研究表明，大约每150-160名儿童中就有1名患有自闭症”。Reality Controls （Vancouver， BC）对交互式技术有广泛的兴趣，这些技术可以在各种情况下帮助人们，包括帮助ASD患者。卡尔加里大学计算机科学系的视频和运动分析（VMA）实验室在开发帮助运动员获得和完善运动技能的系统方面有着良好的记录，该系统通过测量运动员的运动并以声音（即声化）的形式提供实时辅助反馈。该项目的目标是将VMA实验室在运动和声音方面的技术知识应用于Reality Controls正在开发的ASD辅助技术。我们将研究几种有可能测量佩戴者情绪状态的可穿戴传感器，例如心率监测器和运动传感器。当测量结果被实时发出声音时，佩戴者可以听到自己的情绪状态作为一种声音模式。因此，患有自闭症谱系障碍的患者戴上这种设备就可以学会倾听情绪状态。如果另一个人（真实的或在游戏环境中模拟的）戴上传感器，ASD患者就能听到声音，患者就能听到情绪状态，这可能会克服许多ASD患者面临的沟通挑战。最终，我们希望这样一个系统能够让ASD患者首先弥合这种沟通差距，然后利用它来学习他们可以在日常生活中应用的应对机制。我们期望一个成功的项目将产生一个体现这种从情感到声音过程的产品。