An emotional learning environment for subjects with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Numerous studies highlight that serious games, 3D virtual learning environments and Information Communication Technologies can be powerful tools in supporting people affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders. In particular, they can be very effective in helping to recognize and comprehend social behaviours and emotions. In this paper, an authoring system designed and implemented in order to stimulate and to facilitate the understanding of emotions is presented (Face 3D). This software could be a highly appropriate tool for autistic children with high cognitive functions, who are often attracted by technology.

[1]  B. Ingersoll,et al.  The use of innovative computer technology for teaching social communication to individuals with autism spectrum disorders , 2011 .

[2]  Investigating mental representations in children in teracting with small mobile robots , 2007 .

[3]  Susanne Kaiser,et al.  Facial Expressions as Indicators of “Functional” and “Dysfunctional” Emotional Processes , 2003 .

[4]  Eleonora Pantano,et al.  The Design of an Advanced Virtual Shopping Assistant for Improving Consumer Experience , 2011 .

[5]  P. Ekman.  Facial expression and emotion. , 1993, The American psychologist.

[6]  Antonella Reitano,et al.  CULTURAL HERITAGE 2.0 PROSUMERS AND A NEW COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT RELATED TO CULTURAL HERITAGE , 2008 .

[7]  Ken Perlin,et al.  Layered compositing of facial expression , 1997, SIGGRAPH '97.

[8]  Sarah Parsons,et al.  The Use and Understanding of Virtual Environments by Adolescents with Autistic Spectrum Disorders , 2004, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[9]  P. Mitchell,et al.  Do adolescents with autistic spectrum disorders adhere to social conventions in virtual environments? , 2005, Autism : the international journal of research and practice.

[10]  E. Kärnä,et al.  Communication of Children with Autism in a Technology-Enhanced Learning Environment☆ , 2012 .

[11]  Thomas Dierks,et al.  The development and evaluation of a computer-based program to test and to teach the recognition of facial affect , 2002, International journal of circumpolar health.

[12]  Jing Xiao,et al.  Multimodal coordination of facial action, head rotation, and eye motion during spontaneous smiles , 2004, Sixth IEEE International Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition, 2004. Proceedings..

[13]  C. Darwin.  The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals , .

[14]  M. Sasikumar,et al.  Analysis of Facial Expression using Gabor and , 2009 .

[15]  Xianhui Wang,et al.  Developing methods for understanding social behavior in a 3D virtual learning environment , 2012, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[16]  Eleonora Bilotta,et al.  Toward the Use of Chua's Circuit in Education, Art and Interdisciplinary Research: Some Implementation and Opportunities , 2013, Leonardo.

[17]  Jeffrey F. Cohn,et al.  Development of perceptual expertise in emotion recognition , 2009, Cognition.

[18]  Katherine B. Martin,et al.  Facial Action Coding System , 2015 .

[19]  Jun Ye,et al.  Enhancing empathy instruction using a collaborative virtual learning environment for children with autistic spectrum conditions , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[20]  Li Zhang,et al.  Spacetime faces: high resolution capture for modeling and animation , 2004, SIGGRAPH 2004.

[21]  Eleonora Bilotta,et al.  Motivating the learning of science topics in secondary school: A constructivist edutainment setting for studying Chaos , 2012, Comput. Educ..

[22]  Jun Ye,et al.  Exploring the social competence of students with autism spectrum conditions in a collaborative virtual learning environment - The pilot study , 2010, Comput. Educ..

[23]  U. Hess,et al.  The Intensity of Emotional Facial Expressions and Decoding Accuracy , 1997 .

[24]  L. Koegel,et al.  Teaching Children with Autism: Strategies for Initiating Positive Interactions and Improving Learning Opportunities. , 1995 .

[25]  Stefan Kopp,et al.  Natural timing in coverbal gesture of an articulated figure , 1999 .

[26]  Wade Junek,et al.  Mind Reading: The Interactive Guide to Emotions , 2007 .

[27]  Eleonora Bilotta,et al.  Connecting Art and Science for Education: Learning through an Advanced Virtual Theater with Talking Heads , 2010, Leonardo.

[28]  Julie E. N. Irish.  Can I sit here? A review of the literature supporting the use of single-user virtual environments to help adolescents with autism learn appropriate social communication skills , 2013, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[29]  John J. Magee,et al.  Categorical perception of facial expressions , 1992, Cognition.

[30]  Vedad Hulusic,et al.  "LeFCA": Learning Framework for Children with Autism , 2012, VS-GAMES.

[31]  J. Boucher.  Language development in autism. , 2003, International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology.

[32]  U. Frith.  Autism: Explaining the enigma, 2nd ed. , 2003 .

[33]  A. J. Fridlund.  IS THERE UNIVERSAL RECOGNITION OF EMOTION FROM FACIAL EXPRESSION? A REVIEW OF THE CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES , 1994 .

[34]  Group Dynamics and Emotional Expression: Contents , 2007 .

[35]  P. Mitchell,et al.  Using Virtual Environments for Teaching Social Understanding to 6 Adolescents with Autistic Spectrum Disorders , 2007, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[36]  Eleonora Pantano,et al.  Consumer perception of computer-mediated communication in a social network , 2010, 4th International Conference on New Trends in Information Science and Service Science.

[37]  Sharon C. Lyter,et al.  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Making it Work for Social Work , 2012 .

[38]  A. O'Toole,et al.  Psychological and neural perspectives on the role of motion in face recognition. , 2003, Behavioral and cognitive neuroscience reviews.

[39]  Lorella Gabriele,et al.  Using LabVIEW for applying mathematical models in representing phenomena , 2007, Comput. Educ..

[40]  Eleonora Bilotta,et al.  VIRTUAL HUMANS IN EDUCATION: SOME IMPLEMENTATIONS FROM RESEARCH STUDIES , 2011 .

[41]  J. Turner.  Human Emotions: A Sociological Theory , 2007 .

[42]  Eleonora Bilotta,et al.  Edutainment Robotics as Learning Tool , 2009, Trans. Edutainment.

[43]  N. Sriram,et al.  Enhancing Social Problem Solving in Children with Autism and Normal Children Through Computer-Assisted Instruction , 2001, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[44]  Eleonora Pantano,et al.  Enhancing the Educational Experience of Calabrian Cultural Heritage: A Technology-Based Approach , 2011 .

[45]  Sebastiano Battiato,et al.  Modelling and Animation of Theatrical Greek Masks in an Authoring System , 2007, Eurographics Italian Chapter Conference.

[46]  D. Moore,et al.  Collaborative Virtual Environment Technology for People With Autism , 2005 .

[47]  Eleonora Bilotta,et al.  EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY: LEARNING BY HANDS-ON LABORATORY EXPERIENCES , 2011 .

[48]  Francesca Bertacchini,et al.  Active Learning in a Robotics Laboratory with University Students , 2012 .

[49]  Eleonora Bilotta,et al.  Motor-Manipulatory Behaviours and Learning: an Observational Study , 2008, Int. J. Online Eng..

[50]  J A Kelso,et al.  Dynamic pattern generation in behavioral and neural systems. , 1988, Science.

[51]  C. Lord,et al.  Language and Communication in Autism , 2014 .

[52]  Dr. M. Sasikumar,et al.  Analysis of Facial Expression using Gabor and SVM , 2009 .

[53]  Eleonora Pantano,et al.  Educational Personalized Contents in a Web Environment: The Virtual Museum Net of Magna Graecia , 2011 .

[54]  L. Wing,et al.  Severe impairments of social interaction and associated abnormalities in children: Epidemiology and classification , 1979, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[55]  Darlene H. Anderson,et al.  Video Self-Modeling on an iPad to Teach Functional Math Skills to Adolescents With Autism and Intellectual Disability , 2013 .

[56]  Mandy Rispoli,et al.  The effect of instructional use of an iPad on challenging behavior and academic engagement for two , 2013 .

[57]  Eleonora Pantano,et al.  Learning Cultural Heritage Through Information and Communication Technologies: A Case Study , 2009, Int. J. Inf. Commun. Technol. Hum. Dev..

[58]  Steven M. Seitz,et al.  Spacetime faces , 2004, ACM Trans. Graph..

[59]  S. Baron-Cohen,et al.  Using Assistive Technology to Teach Emotion Recognition to Students With Asperger Syndrome , 2007 .