SuperpowerGlass: A Wearable Aid for the At-Home Therapy of Children with Autism

We have developed a system for automatic facial expression recognition running on Google Glass, delivering real-time social cues to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The system includes multiple mechanisms to engage children and their parents, who administer this technology within the home. We completed an at-home design trial with 14 families that used the learning aid over a 3-month period. We found that children with ASD generally respond well to wearing the system at home and opt for the most expressive feedback choice. We further evaluated app usage, facial engagement, and model accuracy. We found that the device can act as a powerful training aid when used periodically in the home, that interactive video content from wearable therapy sessions should be augmented with sufficient context about the content to produce long-term engagement, and that the design of wearable systems for children with ASD should be heavily dependent on the functioning level of the child. We contribute general design implications for developing wearable aids used by children with ASD and other behavioral disorders as well as their parents during at-home parent-administered therapy sessions.