Feel and Touch: Innovative Mobile Haptic Game for ASD Assessment
Feel and Touch: Innovative Mobile Haptic Game for ASD Assessment
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Identifying and understanding the unique tactile processing patterns of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) requires specialized tools. Traditional assessment methods often miss subtle interaction differences that could serve as potential markers.
Research | Design | Evaluation with children | Recruitment | Data collection | Quantitative analysis| Machine Learning
Overview
Overview
Feel and Touch is a mobile haptic mobile game designed to assess tactile processing abilities in children. The game uses vibrotactile patterns to:
Create engaging interactions through an intuitive spider web-building narrative
Establish connections between tactile interactions and vibrotactile feedback
Collect rich interaction data for neurodevelopmental research
Key Learnings
Key Learnings
Mobile haptic games can provide valuable neurodevelopmental insights
Children's engagement is essential for effective data collection
Digital markers offer promising avenues for objective assessment
User-centered design principles significantly enhance research outcomes
Research Goals
Research Goals
📌 Design an active haptic interface for collecting touch interaction data
📌 Design an active haptic interface for collecting touch interaction data
📌 Evaluate potential digital markers for ASD
📌 Evaluate potential digital markers for ASD
📌 Compare interaction patterns between neurotypical (NT) children and children with ASD
📌 Compare interaction patterns between neurotypical (NT) children and children with ASD
Game Concept
Game Concept
Feel and Touch
Feel and Touch
Theme: Helping a hungry spider rebuild its web after a storm (inspired by the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" nursery rhyme)
Interaction Types:
Tapping (associated with "flat" vibrotactile pattern)
Dragging (associated with "ramp" vibrotactile pattern)
Game Activities:
Build the spider web
Feed the spider
Dancing on the web
Methodology
Methodology
Collaborative Design Process
Collaborative Design Process
In total, we conducted three participatory design sessions, involving a diverse group of HCI experts, children, preschool educators, special education teachers, and graphic designers. Additionally, we held three sessions with HCI experts to define the game's dynamics.
The data obtained during these design sessions were analyzed using rapid contextual design techniques. Subsequently, we translated this data into sketches, storyboards, and new ideas that were incorporated into the initial activities.
1️⃣ Selection of Winning Visions
1️⃣ Selection of Winning Visions
During the participatory design sessions, two winning visions were selected from multiple concepts
2️⃣ Game Dynamics and Narrative Development
2️⃣ Game Dynamics and Narrative Development
The team carefully crafted the game dynamics, storyline, game elements, and level progression through collaborative sessions.
3️⃣ Storyboard Creation
3️⃣ Storyboard Creation
Detailed storyboards were developed to review and refine game dynamics. These visual narratives helped stakeholders understand the user flow and interaction patterns before implementation.
Study Implementation
Study Implementation
Consent: Written parental/caregiver consent obtained for all participants
Participants:
69 neurotypical children (33 boys, 36 girls)
Age range: 3-6 years (Mean: 4.50 ± 0.71)
19 children with ASD (14 boys, 5 girls)
Age range: 3-6 years (Mean: 4.92 ± 1.05)
Recruitment:
NT children from private preschool in central Mexico
ASD children from specialized care center
Data analysis
Data analysis
Total Interactions: 16,584 touch interactions recorded
Feature Extraction: 11 general features describing geometry and execution
Analysis Approach:
Feature reduction and selection
Exploratory analysis
Statics analysis
Classification Task: Binary distinction between ASD and NT touch interactions
Key Findings
Key Findings
Digital Markers
Digital Markers
Identified three potential digital markers of ASD
Tilt
Tilt
Orientation patterns during interaction
Distance to the center
Distance to the center
Spatial awareness and focus
Total acceleration
Total acceleration
Movement dynamics and control
User Experience
User Experience
Survey results showed consistently positive feedback
All children reported:
Desire to play the game again
Finding the game fun
Interest in having the game at home
Impact and Implications
Impact and Implications
Demonstrated viability of mobile haptic interfaces for neurodevelopmental assessment
Created engaging tool that children genuinely enjoy using
Identified digital markers with potential diagnostic applications
Established foundation for future research in tactile processing differences
Technical Toolkit
Technical Toolkit
Development: Xcode, Swift
Analysis: Python
Methodologies:
User-Centered Design
Participatory Design
Statistical Analysis
Machine Learning
Personal Contributions
Personal Contributions
Led participatory design process with diverse stakeholders
Developed mobile application architecture and haptic feedback mechanisms
Designed data collection methodology
Implemented feature extraction and analysis approach
Conducted comprehensive evaluation of potential digital markers
Publications and Further Reading
Publications and Further Reading
Ivonne Monarca, Franceli L. Cibrian, Isabel López Hurtado, and Monica Tentori. 2024. Smartphone Haptics Can Uncover Differences in Touch Interactions Between ASD and Neurotypicals. Proc. ACM Interact. Mob. Wearable Ubiquitous Technol. 8, 4, Article 164 (November 2024), 34 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3699749
Monarca, Ivonne; Tentori, Monica; Cibrian, Franceli L.. Feel and touch: a haptic mobile game to assess tactile processing. Avances en Interacción Humano-Computadora, [S.l.], n. 1, p. 31-35, nov. 2021. ISSN 2594-2352. Available at: <http://aihc.amexihc.org/index.php/aihc/article/view/83>. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.47756/aihc.y6i1.83.
Monarca, I., Chen, Y.Y., Bichelmeir, A., Anderson, K., Tentori, M., Cibrian, F.L. (2023). Designing a Game for Haptic Interfaces to Uncover Gestural Pattern in Children. In: Bravo, J., Ochoa, S., Favela, J. (eds) Proceedings of the International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing & Ambient Intelligence (UCAmI 2022). UCAmI 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 594. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-21333-5_93
MONARCA, Ivonne; TENTORI, Monica; CIBRIAN, Franceli L.. Feel and touch: a haptic mobile game to assess tactile processing. Avances en Interacción Humano-Computadora, [S.l.], n. 1, p. 31-35, nov. 2021. ISSN 2594-2352. Available at: <http://aihc.amexihc.org/index.php/aihc/article/view/83>. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.47756/aihc.y6i1.83.
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