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The gaze-contingent setup intended for guiding participants with high functioning autism in the visual exploration of facial expressions. An eye-tracking remote infrared camera (model D6-HS from Applied Science Laboratories) enables the participant to control a lens on the visual display. The whole display is blurred except for the lens centered on the current fixation of the participants' eyes.
Source publication
This article presents a review of the question regarding the link between social communication difficulties and altered executive functions (which are cognitive functions involved in the control of behavior, such as planning, inhibition, working memory etc) in high functioning autism. We first analyze the difficulties experienced by people with hig...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... then processes the graphic display in real time so that the entire visual display is blurred, except for an area centered on the point gazed at by the participant. This gaze-contingency system can be seen as simulating a gaze-controlled lens: the display is blurred outside and clear inside of an area centered on the current fixation of the eyes (Fig. 3). The size of this area has been fixed so that it would be large enough to encompass both eyes and their eyebrows. It is thus smaller than the whole face of the virtual character. The gaze-controlled lens therefore enables to see clearly either the eyes region or the mouth region, but not both at the same time. The whole display is ...
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Background and aims
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Citations
... Kuriakose and Lahiri (2015) suggest a larger physiological alteration associated with anxiety when confronted with avatars' emotions or when the situations are difficult to interpret. A series of papers deal with the relationship between learning social communication and visual contact for ASD students (Mineo et al. 2009;Alcorn et al. 2011;Grynszpan et al. 2009Grynszpan et al. , 2012Lahiri et al. 2011;Bekele et al. 2013;Georgescu et al. 2013), showing mixed results: Whilst some observed improvements in visual cues, visual contact and attention during conversation (Mineo et al. 2009;Lahiri et al. 2011), as well as positive reactions to the avatar's body language (Alcorn et al. 2011), Grynszpan et al. (2009 noticed that those improvements were only maintained if introducing external manipulations. Moreover, Georgescu et al. (2013) found that ADS students did not change their opinion on an avatar's personality depending on the time of interaction, whereas neurotypical students did. ...
... Kuriakose and Lahiri (2015) suggest a larger physiological alteration associated with anxiety when confronted with avatars' emotions or when the situations are difficult to interpret. A series of papers deal with the relationship between learning social communication and visual contact for ASD students (Mineo et al. 2009;Alcorn et al. 2011;Grynszpan et al. 2009Grynszpan et al. , 2012Lahiri et al. 2011;Bekele et al. 2013;Georgescu et al. 2013), showing mixed results: Whilst some observed improvements in visual cues, visual contact and attention during conversation (Mineo et al. 2009;Lahiri et al. 2011), as well as positive reactions to the avatar's body language (Alcorn et al. 2011), Grynszpan et al. (2009 noticed that those improvements were only maintained if introducing external manipulations. Moreover, Georgescu et al. (2013) found that ADS students did not change their opinion on an avatar's personality depending on the time of interaction, whereas neurotypical students did. ...
This paper proposes the design and application of a head mounted display (HMD) immersive virtual reality system to improve and train the emotional and social skills of students with autism spectrum disorders. We selected two groups of 7 high functioning ASD children each, ages between 8 and 15, and similar educational capabilities. On the first group, we applied an own intervention design working on social and emotional competences along 10 sessions by using Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) as a didactical tool, re-creating virtual environments of socialization (a classroom and a play garden). The second group is used as control, and as such is not put through any sort of intervention during the intervention period. The adaptation levels and the improvements obtained suggest that IVR in the presented format is in line with the sensory preferences and visuospatial strength of the ASD children participating in this study. Consequently, we may conclude that IVR can be satisfactory used as educational tool for ASD children.
... In addition, experiments with virtual avatars and gaze-contingent environments have been developed with potential therapeutic relevance to children with ASD [Bekele et al., 2014;Lahiri, Bekele, Dohrmann, Warren, & Sarkar, 2013;Lahiri, Warren, & Sarkar, 2011;Trepagnier, 2006;Trepagnier et al., 2006]. Other work designed for eventual therapeutic potential has tested gaze-contingent social viewing windows [Courgeon, Rautureau, Martin, & Grynszpan, 2014;Grynszpan et al., 2009;Grynszpan, Simonin, Martin, & Nadel, 2012] and explored gaze-contingent executive function training [Wass, Porayska-Pomsta, & Johnson, 2011]; however, these projects have not explicitly involved individuals with ASD. ...
Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) look less toward faces compared to their non‐ASD peers, limiting access to social learning. Currently, no technologies directly target these core social attention difficulties. This study examines the feasibility of automated gaze modification training for improving attention to faces in 3‐year‐olds with ASD. Using free‐viewing data from typically developing (TD) controls (n = 41), we implemented gaze‐contingent adaptive cueing to redirect children with ASD toward normative looking patterns during viewing of videos of an actress. Children with ASD were randomly assigned to either (a) an adaptive Cue condition (Cue, n = 16) or (b) a No‐Cue condition (No‐Cue, n = 19). Performance was examined at baseline, during training, and post‐training, and contrasted with TD controls (n = 23). Proportion of time looking at the screen (%Screen) and at actresses' faces (%Face) was analyzed. At Pre‐Training, Cue and No‐Cue groups did not differ in %Face (P > 0.1). At Post‐Training, the Cue group had higher %Face than the No‐Cue group (P = 0.015). In the No‐Cue group %Face decreased Pre‐ to Post‐Training; no decline was observed in the Cue group. These results suggest gaze‐contingent training effectively mitigated decreases of attention toward the face of onscreen social characters in ASD. Additionally, larger training effects were observed in children with lower nonverbal ability, suggesting a gaze‐contingent approach may be particularly relevant for children with greater cognitive impairment. This work represents development toward new social attention therapeutic systems that could augment current behavioral interventions. Autism Res 2020, 13: 61–73. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Lay Summary
In this study, we leverage a new technology that combines eye tracking and automatic computer programs to help very young children with ASD look at social information in a more prototypical way. In a randomized controlled trial, we show that the use of this technology prevents the diminishing attention toward social information normally seen in children with ASD over the course of a single experimental session. This work represents development toward new social attention therapeutic systems that could augment current behavioral interventions.
... For instance: Abirached et al. interviewed parents and found that they recognized the importance of tools to help children with ASD learn socially-important recognition skills [8] Relatively less emphasis in HCI has been placed on the substantial cognitive difficulties often observed in ASD. As noted by Grynszpan and colleagues, a more complete clinical profile of individuals with ASD considers not only social deficits and cognitive deficits, but also their interaction [37]. In this study, we assess EF skills and, by including social and non-social components, we hone in on specific difficulties faced by individuals with autism, such as diminished attention towards social stimuli [31]. ...
Most studies of executive function (EF) in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) focus on cognitive information
processing, emphasizing less the social interaction deficits core to ASD. We designed a mobile game that uses social and nonsocial stimuli to assess children’s EF skills. The game comprised three components involving different EF skills: cognitive flexibility (shifting/inference), inhibitory control, and short-term memory. By recruiting 65 children with and without ASD to play the mobile game, we investigated the potential of such platforms for capturing important phenotypic characteristics of individuals with autism. Results highlighted between-diagnostic-group differences in playing patterns with children with ASD showing broad patterns of EF deficits, but with relative strengths in nonsocial short-term memory, and preserved response to emotional inhibition cues. We showed the system could predict IQ, an important target for clinical treatment, towards the goal of developing platforms to act as long-term, efficient, and effective behavioral biomarkers for ASD
... Recognising this potential, there is a small but growing interest in the application of CVEs for supporting learning for participants with ASD. For example, research has incorporated avatars into desktop environments to support the learning of vocabulary (Bosseler & Massaro, 2003;Massaro & Bosseler, 2006) and to investigate the interpretation of facial expressions (Fabri, Elzouki, & Moore, 2007;Fabri & Moore, 2005;Grynszpan et al., 2009;Moore, Cheng, McGrath, & Powell, 2005;Schwartz, Bente, Gawronski, Schilbach, & Vogeley, 2010). However, these studies used prerecorded agent avatars rather than humancontrolled avatars to prompt responding and so tell us very little about how participants with ASD respond to human-controlled avatars in real time. ...
Collaborative Virtual Environments (CVEs) have the potential to support socio-communicative interactions for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but little is known about the sense of presence participants feel in CVEs or how CVEs can be used to assess skills.
Method Ten children with ASD and 10 typically developing (TD) children (aged 12-16 years) judged greeting behaviours of a human avatar and static facial expressions in a virtual gallery.
Results There were no differences in presence reported by the two groups. The ASD group were less sensitive to a negative greeting from the human avatar than the TD group, and impaired in recognising static facial expressions.
Conclusions Self-reported measures of presence are valuable for informing which kinds of tasks and technology may provide more authentic contexts in which to identify and support social competence in participants with ASD.
... Using VR to explore patterns of eye gaze towards social stimuli Grynszpan et al.'s (2009) research is a good example of virtual characters being assumed to represent an authentic, realistic stimulus via which social gaze behaviours can be observed and manipulated. Grynszpan et al. (2009) describe the development of a VR system aimed at helping people with ASD to focus on relevant facial cues during social conversation. Their hypothesis was that people with ASD do not recognize the value of paying attention to facial expressions during conversation and, as a result, miss important non-verbal cues that can aid comprehension of meaning. ...
... Beier & Spelke, 2012). Grynszpan et al. (2009) argue that by using eye-tracking technology to identify where participants look during a social conversation with a virtual character (an agent-avatar), they can encourage participants with ASD to shift their attention to the faces of virtual characters by blurring the field outside of the direction of eye gaze. In other words, participants could see the virtual character clearly only when they looked at the face region, not elsewhere in the virtual scene. ...
... The absence of comparison with other stimuli in these studies (Grynszpan et al., 2012(Grynszpan et al., , 2009Lahiri et al., 2011) raises an important question about the extent to which responses observed when viewing the VR agent-avatars are authentic or not. Although Georgescu et al. (2014) conclude that VR can authentically simulate real life situations and that people with and without ASD interpret VEs in similar ways, they draw upon only two studies to support this assertion. ...
Virtual Reality (VR) technologies have shown potential for learning and assessment for children, adolescents, and adults with autism. Much of the research in this area has taken a conceptual stance of veridicality; that is, that VR offers promise because it can provide authenticity and levels of realism alongside stimulus or environmental control, or both, which may first facilitate learning and the generalization of skills to the real world, and secondly can provide experimental contexts with strong ecological validity for assessment. This conceptual review raises questions about the assumption of veridicality of VR for autism research by examining research literature that has used VR to support learning and to investigate social responding. In so doing, it provides a framework for examining the assumed relationship between virtual and real contexts in order to highlight particular features of design and interaction, as well as background characteristics of participants, that may help or hinder learning and understanding in virtual environments. The conclusions suggest there is a need for the field to systematically examine the different factors that influence responding in VR in order to understand when, and under what circumstances, the responses of individuals with autism can be considered appropriately authentic. There are also opportunities for thinking more radically about research directions through focusing on the strengths and preferences of people with autism, and promoting more participatory and inclusive approaches to research.
... He has used virtual and physical agents to assess and support social interaction in people with autism. Grynszpan's research has detected that, when watching social scenes in a film, the eye movements of people with ASC are very different from neurotypical people, with the former showing less of a focus on the eye region of faces (Grynszpan et al., 2009). The researchers used eye-tracking information to provide immediate feedback to people with ASC about the potential effects that lack of eye gaze might have on the people with whom they interact. ...
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to raise important questions from the different perspectives on autism research that arose from a seminar on autism and technology, held as part of an ESRC-funded series on innovative technologies for autism.
Design/methodology/approach
– The paper focuses on the roles of technology in understanding questions about different perspectives on autism: how do people on the spectrum see neurotypicals (people without autism) and vice versa?; how do the authors use eye gaze differently from each other?; how might technology influence what is looked at and how the authors measure this?; what differences might there be in how people use imitation of others?; and finally, how should the authors study and treat any differences?
Findings
– The authors synthesise common themes from invited talks and responses. The audience discussions highlighted the ways in which the authors take account of human variation, how the authors can understand the perspective of another, particularly across third-person and second-person approaches in research, and how researchers and stakeholders engage with each other.
Originality/value
– The authors argue that the question of perspectives is important for considering how people with autism and neurotypical people interact in everyday contexts, and how researchers frame their research questions and methods. The authors propose that stakeholders and researchers can fruitfully engage directly in discussions of research, in ways that benefit both research and practice.
... Other researchers used virtual agents in the educational process such as BBaldi^ (Bosseler and Massaro 2003) and BSam^ (Tartaro and Cassell 2006), which facilitated language and social skills in children with ASC. Also, humanoid avatars have been employed to examine if children with ASC could develop their empathy (), as well as enhance their communication skills (i.e., verbal and text-communication) ( Grynszpan et al. 2011 Grynszpan et al. , 2012). Further research, demonstrating the potential value of the VLE, aimed at teaching multi-tasking (Rajendran et al. 2011), as well as life skills (Charitos et al. 2000). ...
... How do special education teachers evaluate the role of avatars in the educational process for children with ASC? According to relevant research ( Grynszpan et al. 2011 Grynszpan et al. , 2012 ), the avatars' representation can play an important role to children with ASC. For this reason, this study further examines the use and the importance of the avatars. ...
Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) have been successfully used in educational interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) for overcoming their persistent differences related to social communication and imagination. This paper investigates the potential of VLEs presenting Social Stories, as an advantageous pathway for the development of social problem skills in children with ASC. To this end, it presents the design and development of VLSS (Virtual Learning Environment with Social Stories), a prototype three-dimensional VLE for children with ASC. Overall, the evaluation of VLSS by 40 experts (special education teachers) was very positive, indicating that VLSS has the potential to be a beneficial and easy-to-use educational tool for enhancing social problem solving in children with ASC.
... Although not tested through direct observation, responses from parents to a questionnaire sent with a software demo showed that children with autism understood the different emotions being displayed at a level significantly greater than chance, suggesting that the VEs were a meaningful and understandable way of displaying this information. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the core difficulties of children with autism in relation to understanding and interpreting the social cues and emotions of people, other groups of researchers have argued that VR could be especially useful for investigating and supporting understanding of facial expressions by children with autism (e.g., Grynszpan et al., 2009;Trepagnier et al., 2005;Trepagnier, Sebrechts, & Peterson, 2002), although results from these studies have not yet been reported. However, Cheng and Ye (2010) have reported on the use of a CVE by three children with autism (aged 7-8 years) and found that the children were motivated by and responded appropriately to the emotional expressions of avatars, again suggesting promise in this area, albeit in the form of a small-scale study. ...
The role of virtual reality technologies to help people with autism has been well documented and is an area of research that continues to develop. While the evidence base is somewhat limited, there are many studies that have started to explore the potential of virtual reality technologies for people with autism. Work conducted by Strickland et al. (1996), Murray (1997), Charitos et al. (2000), Parsons and Mitchell (2002), Parsons et al. (2006, 2007), Cobb (2007), Fabri and Moore (2005), and Fabri et al. (2004) have all added to this positive picture of virtual reality technologies to support people on the autism spectrum, specifically in terms of social interaction and social skills development. This chapter uncovers the evidence base and work of others in relation to virtual reality technologies used by people with autism. This chapter concludes with a view as to what future work might pursue in this field.
... They have found that HFA, compared to controls, looked less frequently to avatar peers in the classroom while talking. Consequently, in order to train social attention, virtual training programs have been developed (Grynszpan et al., 2009;Lahiri et al., 2011a,b). For example, Lahiri et al. (2011a,b) developed a novel paradigm, able to automatically structure and adapt interactions in real-time. ...
High-functioning autism (HFA) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which is characterized by life-long socio-communicative impairments on the one hand and preserved verbal and general learning and memory abilities on the other. One of the areas where particular difficulties are observable is the understanding of non-verbal communication cues. Thus, investigating the underlying psychological processes and neural mechanisms of non-verbal communication in HFA allows a better understanding of this disorder, and potentially enables the development of more efficient forms of psychotherapy and trainings. However, the research on non-verbal information processing in HFA faces several methodological challenges. The use of virtual characters (VCs) helps to overcome such challenges by enabling an ecologically valid experience of social presence, and by providing an experimental platform that can be systematically and fully controlled. To make this field of research accessible to a broader audience, we elaborate in the first part of the review the validity of using VCs in non-verbal behavior research on HFA, and we review current relevant paradigms and findings from social-cognitive neuroscience. In the second part, we argue for the use of VCs as either agents or avatars in the context of “transformed social interactions.” This allows for the implementation of real-time social interaction in virtual experimental settings, which represents a more sensitive measure of socio-communicative impairments in HFA. Finally, we argue that VCs and environments are a valuable assistive, educational and therapeutic tool for HFA.
... Also, humanoid avatars have been employed to examine if children with ASD could understand basic emotions [9], develop their empathy [15], as well as enhance their communication skills (i.e. verbal and text- communication) [16], [17], [18]. Further research, demonstrating the potential value of the VLE, aimed at teaching multi-tasking [19], as well as life skills [20], such as fire and tornado safety skills [21], appreciating fire risk and the need for building evacuation [22]. ...
... According to relevant research the avatars' representation can play an important role to children with ASD [16], [17], [18]. For this reason, this study further examines the use and the importance of the avatars. ...
This paper presents the design, implementation and educational use of a virtual learning environment which supports children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to learn to solve social problems presented in the format of Social Stories. The pilot evaluation revealed that the environment has the potential to be a beneficial and easy-to-use educational tool for teaching social problem solving to children with ASD.
