Augmented reality-based self-facial modeling to promote the emotional expression and social skills of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Chien-Hsu Chen; I-Jui Lee; Ling-Yi Lin

doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.10.015

Augmented reality-based self-facial modeling to promote the emotional expression and social skills of adolescents with autism spectrum disorders

Res Dev Disabil. 2015 Jan:36C:396-403. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.10.015. Epub 2014 Nov 8.

Authors

Chien-Hsu Chen¹, I-Jui Lee², Ling-Yi Lin³

Affiliations

¹ Ergonomics and Interaction Design Lab, Department of Industrial Design, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1 University Road, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: chenhsu@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
² Ergonomics and Interaction Design Lab, Department of Industrial Design, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1 University Road, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: P38981047@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
³ Department of Occupational Therapy, National Cheng Kung University, No. 1 University Road, Tainan, Taiwan. Electronic address: lingyi@mail.ncku.edu.tw.

PMID: 25462499
DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2014.10.015

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by a reduced ability to understand the emotions of other people; this ability involves recognizing facial expressions. This study assessed the possibility of enabling three adolescents with ASD to become aware of facial expressions observed in situations in a school setting simulated using augmented reality (AR) technology. The AR system provided three-dimensional (3-D) animations of six basic facial expressions overlaid on participant faces to facilitate practicing emotional judgments and social skills. Based on the multiple baseline design across subjects, the data indicated that AR intervention can improve the appropriate recognition and response to facial emotional expressions seen in the situational task.

Keywords: 3-D facial animation; Augmented reality (AR); Emotions; Self-facial modeling; Three-dimensional (3-D) facial expressions.