Future affective technology for autism and emotion communication

Abstract

People on the autism spectrum often experience states of emotional or cognitive overload that pose challenges to their interests in learning and communicating. Measurements taken from home and school environments show that extreme overload experienced internally, measured as autonomic nervous system (ANS) activation, may not be visible externally: a person can have a resting heart rate twice the level of non-autistic peers, while outwardly appearing calm and relaxed. The chasm between what is happening on the inside and what is seen on the outside, coupled with challenges in speaking and being pushed to perform, is a recipe for a meltdown that may seem to come 'out of the blue', but in fact may have been steadily building. Because ANS activation both influences and is influenced by efforts to process sensory information, interact socially, initiate motor activity, produce meaningful speech and more, deciphering the dynamics of ANS states is important for understanding and helping people on the autism spectrum. This paper highlights advances in technology that can comfortably sense and communicate ANS arousal in daily life, allowing new kinds of investigations to inform the science of autism while also providing personalized feedback to help individuals who participate in the research.

Figures

Figure 1.

Wearable EDA sensor. (a) Sensor is inside stretchy breathable wristband. (b) Disposable Ag/AgCl electrodes attached to the underside of the wristband. (c) The EDA sensor can be worn comfortably for long periods of time.

Figure 2.

Radial 24-h plots of EDA data from four days of wearing the wireless wrist sensor. Arousal level is proportional to distance from the centre. During three of the days, the biggest peaks occur during wake; while in the upper right, the biggest peak is during sleep. Black lines, skin conductance.

Figure 3.

EDA over a 45 min occupational therapy session, as measured from wireless wrist EDA sensor, for a child with sensory processing disorder. Arousal escalates when child is lying quietly on the floor, appearing outwardly calm.