INSPIRE: The RAVE Revolution for Children with Minimal Language Experience During Sensitive Periods of Brain and Language Development

美国国家科学基金会促进跨学科研究和教育（INSPIRE）综合支持项目“大脑和语言发育敏感时期语言经验最少的儿童的RAVE革命”由计算机和信息科学与工程理事会的强大智能和网络-人类系统项目联合资助；社会、行为和经济科学理事会的发展和学习科学计划以及学习中心科学计划；国际科学与工程办公室；以及综合活动办公室。跨学科团队拓展了传统独立学科的界限，通过联合协作来探索一种变革性的学习工具，以减少最小语言经验对儿童的破坏性影响。儿童语言经验的急剧减少已被证明对学习语言、阅读和实现正常的认知功能有有害的影响，这是许多儿童面临的问题（例如，来自低社会经济地位背景的儿童；晚接触双语儿童）。聋儿的风险特别大，因为除了最低限度的语言经验外，许多人在早期生活中没有获得无障碍的语言经验。机器人AVatar的热增强学习工具（RAVE）被放置在婴儿的高脚椅附近，以首次社交互动的方式提供手语的多个核心组件和语音选项，最重要的是，在人类大脑和行为发育的关键时期。这一革命性学习工具的探索涉及四个学科（发展认知神经科学、虚拟人类科学、机器人技术和应用心理生理学/生物医学工程）的科学家，为所有婴儿如何发现语言的核心成分提供了科学答案，解决了这四个科学领域以前无法解决的问题。并受到提高早期学习成果的共同目标的推动，否则将终身处于不利地位。特别新颖的是，fNIRS脑成像首次发现了婴儿对语言中多种节奏成分的敏感性，这对健康的语言学习至关重要。这构成了创造节奏模式的基础，这些节奏模式是童谣的核心，也是手语（通过动作捕捉）和语音对话样本的基础。热红外成像+眼动追踪可识别尚不能产生语言的失聪婴儿何时处于最高唤醒状态并准备学习。这会触发机器人+虚拟人根据婴儿的社交参与开始、停止或请求互动。当婴儿的目光锁定机器人时，机器人启动对虚拟人的凝视方向，启动人类人工智能交互中的共同注意和社会偶然对话。这触发了一个界面屏幕，虚拟人提供有节奏的童谣和手语对话，并带有语音选项。RAVE团队共同探索了一种新的辅助工具，用于很少或没有语言输入的儿童；为国家提供具有竞争力的科技优势；培训STEM领域代表性不足的群体、跨学科科学领域的学生和年轻的聋人科学家，以促进对整个社会具有变革性转化意义的科学。

This Integrated NSF Support Promoting Interdisciplinary Research and Education (INSPIRE) project "The RAVE Revolution for Children with Minimal Language Experience During Sensitive Periods of Brain and Language Development" is jointly funded by Robust Intelligence and Cyber-Human Systems Programs of the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate; the Developmental and Learning Sciences Program, and the Science of Learning Centers Program of the Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences; the Office of International Science and Engineering; and the Office of Integrated Activities. The interdisciplinary team expands the boundaries of traditionally separate disciplines by uniting synergistically to explore a transformative learning tool to reduce the devastating impact of minimal language experience on children. Children's dramatically reduced language experience has been shown to have a deleterious impact on learning language, reading, and achieving normal cognitive functions across life,a problem facing many children in the nation (e.g., children from low SES backgrounds; late-exposed bilingual children). Deaf babies are at particular risk, as beyond minimal language experience, many receive no accessible language experience in early life. The Robot AVatar thermal-Enhanced learning tool, or RAVE, is placed near a baby's high-chair and makes available multiple core components of sign language, with speech options, in first-time socially interactive ways, and, crucially, during critical periods of human brain and behavior development. Exploration of this revolutionary learning tool involves scientists spanning four disciplines (Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Virtual Human Science, Robotics, and Applied Psychophysiology/Biomedical Engineering), provides science answers about how all babies discover core components of language, resolves previously insoluble problems in the four sciences, and is propelled by the shared objective to enhance early learning gains for populations that would otherwise be at a lifelong disadvantage.Of particular novelty, fNIRS brain imaging provides first-time discovery of babies' sensitivities to multiple rhythmic components underlying language vital to healthy language learning. This forms the basis for creating rhythmic patterns at the core of nursery rhymes and conversational samples in sign language (through Motion Capture) and speech. Thermal IR imaging+eye tracking identifies when deaf babies who cannot yet produce language are in a peaked arousal state and ready to learn. This triggers the robot+virtual human to start, cease, or solicit interaction based on the baby's social engagement. When the baby's gaze locks with the robot, the robot initiates gaze direction to virtual humans, initiating joint attention and socially-contingent conversation in human artificial agent interaction. This triggers an interfaced screen where virtual humans provide rhythmic nursery rhymes and conversations in sign language, with speech options. Together, the RAVE team explores a new aid to children with minimal or no language input; provides the nation with a competitive science and technological edge; and, trains under-represented groups in STEM, students in interdisciplinary science, and young deaf scientists in the advancement of science with transformative translational significance for all society.