The Toy Videos

Toy No. 1

OPEN  and the lights blink.

TILT and the light flow in the direction of the tilt.

PAT and the lights blink.

Toy No. 2

STRETCH away from each other and the light glow mildly.

MOVE towards each and the lights blink quickly.

TOUCH hands and the toy vibrates.

Toy No. 3

When the toy is right side up. 

CLAP/ tap/ shout and the lights blink.

When the toy is Upside Down.

BEND the finds and the toy plays notes. Both fins have to be bent at the same time in order to sound. 

MOVE the handle from one extreme to the other changes the pitch( higher-lower) of the notes produced when both fins are bent.

Orientation

Touch

Expression Video

Articles

Just posting this stuff so i dont forget about it..

Autism Gives Woman An 'Alien View' Of Social Brains

by JON HAMILTON

It takes a smart brain to invent a spaceship. But putting one in orbit takes a brain with extraordinary social skills.

That's because getting from concept to launchpad takes more than technology — it takes thousands of people agreeing on a common goal and working together to accomplish it.

Humans have succeeded in part because we evolved a brain with a remarkable capacity for this type of complex social interaction. We automatically respond to social cues and facial expressions.  We can look at the world from another person's point of view. We are predisposed to cooperate.

But all these things are so much a part of us, they're easy to take for granted.

Unless you have autism, like Lisa Daxer.

Carly's Voice

My name is Carly Fleischmann and as long as I can remember I've been diagnosed with autism. 

I am not able to talk out of my mouth, however I have found another way to communicate by spelling on my computer 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq--75v4lI8

First PCB for the Touch Toy

These are horrible names and they will change any way heres the first PCB layout. Its the simplest of the three but much more complicated than anything Ive done before. Its off for printing and assembling and hopefully will work when I get it back.

The other two layouts are almost done. Im simultaneously working on the look and feel. Will post sketches tomorrow.

Some more circuits..

Light Displays running lights that light up according to the position of the toy.

Finally , finally, finally got the microphone working. Thank you Victor!

Acceloro makes the lights blink

Sensory Cooking Toy

The circuits for the 3 main toys weren't working and were driving my crazy. So I took a break and worked on another toy concept Sensory cook- adding sensory feedback to play cooking; through the actions/ tasks involved: opening, pouring, stirring, shaking. 

I wanted the electronics to be as simple as possible, no IC chips just simple switches. The circuits below are DIY sensors and switches are easy to make and cost practically nothing. These can be used as simple switches or in a more complex programme can send a range of readings. 

I made a DIY Tilt switch with copper foil, a coin and a match box. Got the idea of using a coin from Spooky Projects DIY switches but I needed it to work with a tilt so I thought of using a mat

chbox and it worked.

This a Pressure/Force Sensor made from copper foil, sponge sheet and fusing fabric (buckrum). Its not as sensitive as it should be; also need to figure out how to increase the area of the sensor and main

tain sensitivity. 

DIY Pressure Sensor Instructable.

I also made a 4 way Tilt Sensor which can be used for sensing shaking and swiveling actions.

DIY Tilt Sensor Instructable.

 

Noiseeeeey

Bend the sensor and you get 5 notes but ofcourse its not as simple as the idea seemed. The sensor send stream of uneven readings that jump. I learnt how to smooth the readings which helped. But smoothing is directly proportionate to the delay in sound output, so I guess Ill have to figure out some compromise.

The potentiometers Input is mapped from 1 to 3 so it sends only 3 readings(notes) to the programme.

Collaborative Play

The Idea of Collaborative Play has become one of the central ideas of my project. What does it mean? When does it happen? How do you create a situation where more than one person must act in order to trigger a reaction?

Below: The project Face Fight done by ITP at their 2009 fall show. Where one person feels another persons presence without actual physical contact; they must co-operate to achieve the task at hand.

Two players sit across the table from each other. They grasp handles. They stare straight at each other through a darkened tunnel, their faces perfectly aligned. The handles are physically coupled: when one player moves his handle left, the other is forced to the left. As the handles move, a line appears in the air between the players' faces, tracking its movement, creating a drawing. Each player tries to trace the face of the other. Where their faces are symmetrical, and therefore aligned, the players agree on the drawing to create and collaborate. Where their faces differ, the players are forced to negotiate a strategy for eliding the differences or to compete for physical control of the drawing point. When they have completed their drawing, the players get a single physical copy of the drawing to share between them.

I made a Flex Sensor!

I made a DIY Flex Sensor which I found an Instructable for. Its not very accurate but does show a change in reading I'm going to find out if its possible to calibrate it and smoother more useful readings. Its pretty cool that it actually works. 

In the tutorial they use Non static black poly bag which i searched all over for but couldnt find. But it seems regular thickish black poly bag works ok enough.

blank

Research

Children’s understanding of the physical properties of the

objects around them were described by the two gestalt

psychologists Otto Lipmann and Hellmuth Bogen in 1923

who coined the term ”Naive Physik“[6]. The term was later

picked up by the artificial intelligence community through

Hayes’ now classic Naive Physics Manifesto, which states

that: "Naive Physics is the body of knowledge that people

have about the surrounding physical world” [4]

It seems a logical extrapolation that modern technological

objects augmented with electronic sensing capabilities

would require us to develop new intuitions or naïve

understandings about both the resulting hybrid-object and

the specific affordances of the electronic sensor itself [1].

The black box project is an attempt to begin to probe such

an understanding of ‘naïve electronics’ in preschool

children.

May the crazy circuits begin...

Experience Prototype for 'Expression'

Experiece Prototype

Concept Sketches

Touch and Expression are two concepts that I have decided to take forward and build.

Expression is suitable for children with severe autism. It exhibits simple cause-effect behavior. Ones actions trigger sensory feedback.

Touch is suitable for children with mild autism. It requires some amount of social engagement before sensory feedback is triggered.

I had a with a few friends Feedback Brainstorm on the concepts- to see what potential each idea had? possible combinations? alternatives? which concepts are stronger?

Concept Sketches
Based on the target skills I have chosen to include.

Social Interaction- Joint attention, turn taking, coopera-

tion, coordination

Imtitation skills - fine, gross motor, peer play

Language - Identities Objects, Pictures, People

Communication - Expressing choice, needs

Experience Prototyping

Experience prototypes are simulations to investigate and 
reveal the quality of the experience. Prototypes come in all forms,
shapes and sizes and consist of whatever is appropriate at
a point in time. They can be quick and dirty to obtain feedback 
on design intention or highly crafted solutions for in depth 
usability evaluation.

Building a prototype to explore and evolve an idea, when put in
the hands of a user can uncover unanticipated issues or needs.

Detailing the interactive experience is integral to the development, 
iteration and refinement of a design concept.

..from tracy currer

Notes from an Experience Prototyping Presentation on slideshare

the five core skills of a design, according to Bill Moggridge are...

1) to synthesize a solution from all of the relevant constraints, 
understanding everything that will make a difference to the result

2) To frame, or reframe, the problem and objective

3) To create and envision alternatives

4) To select from those alternatives, knowing intuitively how to 
choose the best approach

5) To visualize and prototype the intended solution

STEPS

1 Understand the Experience

2 Communicate the Experience

Describe it, Diagram it, Model it

3 Explore the Experience

Whats it like? who uses it? What does it require of people?

What are the barriers?

"As an observer of user evaluations one knows very quickly if the 

designed experience is a good one. If it is people get so involved

in the experience that they forget about the limitations of the prototype."

"Experience Prototyping isnt about a tool kit of techniques, but rather an 

attitude and language to solving design problems."

" Get really good at low-fi prototypes, thats where the real learning happens"

- Jane Fulto Suri.

Drawdio: Draw with audio

What is Drawdio? 
Imagine you could draw musical instruments on normal paper with any pencil (cheap circuit thumb-tacked on) and then play them with your finger. The Drawdio circuit-craft lets you MacGuyver your everyday objects into musical instruments: paintbrushes, macaroni, trees, grandpa, even the kitchen sink... 

Created by Jay Silver ( a member of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab), kit created in Collaboration with Ladyada 

Natural Environment Teaching

How to Sketch Interactions

A talk by Jonas Lowgren at Stockholm University in 2004 In interaction design as in any design discipline, sketching serves several purposes. It is a way to think. Ideas develop and grow in the conversation between eye and hand. Sketching is not merely a matter of documenting images that are already complete in the mind's eye. Thinking occurs, quite literally, in the manual actions involved in creating the sketch. It is a way to communicate. Design ideas are made available for others' inspection, appropriation, criticism and development. It is a way to persuade. Other stakeholders in the design process may be convinced of the value of a design idea through sketches. There are, of course, many requirements that could be posed on sketching techniques. Here, I focus on the demands that sketching techniques be expressive (to explore the envisioned use situation in some detail), sketchy (to reflect the tentative nature of the ideas), and versatile (to handle a wide range of use situations including mobile use in physically demanding environments, for instance). Kinds of Sketches Pencil and Paper Sketches Storyboarding Video Prototyping Pitch Movies Animated User Sketches Interactive Prototypes More......

Similar Design Brief

Found this project done by the University of Siena, Italy. The design brief is very similar to my project....

ROLLING PINS IN AUTISM

2007-2008
The objective of this project is to investigate the potentialities of the Rolling Pins technology in the context of therapeutic interventions with autistic children. A Rolling Pin (RP) consists of a semi-trans¬parent plastic tube. The RPs are capable of measuring their orientation and the speed of their rotation to activate a visual (colour modification), tactile (vibration) or auditory feedback. The peculiarity of the RPs is that they are able to communicate with each other. The RPs are used in pairs, since the local feedback of each RP can be dynamically set depending not only on its own speed and orientation, but also on the speed and the orientation of the peer RP. The RPs were specifically designed to support social relationships between the therapist and the patient, providing them with the opportunity to establish a dialogue based on visual, aural, tactile and sensory-motor interaction modalities. For this study, a specific software configuration has been defined: the manipulation of a Rolling Pin produces a feedback (visual and aural) only in the other one and vice-versa. Our hypothesis is that this configuration should encourage the child and the therapist to play together and cooperate in order to obtain a sensory reward. A field study has been set up in order to observe and describe the role of RPs in contributing to the emergence of the following behavioural responses: imitation, turn-taking, children request for interaction, joint attention and generation of novel sensory-motor patterns.

Autism: The Musical

MEDIATE environment

A project from Centre for Responsive Environments, School of Art, Design & Media, University of Portsmouth, UK 

 To promote creativity, exploration and enjoyment in low functioning autistic children that have no verbal communication, we propose MEDIATE, an interactive environment that generates real time visual, aural and vibrotactile stimuli. This paper focuses on the design of interaction with visuals within MEDIATE. The design is guided by the objectives of giving children a sense of agency and enhance non repetitive actions. Other guidelines of this design include natural interaction, use of non invasive technology and non representational visuals. This visual interaction (together with sound and vibrotacile) allows the children to enjoy MEDIATE and be creative within this environment.

Interaction, Material Test Videos

A Mothers Perspective

Interaction Material Test

Sibling-mediated social interaction intervention

Sibling-mediated social interaction intervention for young children with autism.

Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

| June 22, 2006 | Tsao, Ling-Ling; Odom, Samuel L.

Several researchers have advocated peer-mediated social interventions as an effective approach for children with autism (Harrower & Dunlap, 2001; McConnell, 2002). In this type of intervention, typically developing peers have been regarded as the most powerful agents of behavioral change in social settings (Utley, Mortweet, & Greenwood, 1997), so classroom teachers often have selected socially competent classmates as social interveners for children with disabilities. These nondisabled peers are taught simple behavioral strategies that elicit or support the interactions of children with disabilities, such as asking a child to play, sharing a toy, or suggesting play activities (Brown, Odom, & Conroy, 2001; English, Goldstein, Shafer, & Kaczmarek, 1997; Kohler & Strain, 1999; Odom & Strain, 1986). After the training sessions, researchers have one or more trained peers act as the social interaction agents for the study participants with disabilities. These peers model, reinforce, and/or prompt appropriate social behaviors in classroom settings (Goldstein, Kaczmarek, Pennington, & Shafer, 1992; Strain & Odom, 1986). Peer-mediated interventions have produced positive effects for children with disabilities in classroom settings (Odom et al., 2003). It may be possible to extend this intervention approach to the home by placing siblings in the roles filled by peers in classroom-based peer-mediated interventions.

Several researchers have examined the feasibility of using typically developing siblings to promote the skills, development, and participation of children with autism, with siblings most often filling a "teacher" role. Cash and Evans (1975) first investigated the possibility of using young children as behavior modifiers for their young siblings with disabilities. The researchers taught three sisters how to teach their younger siblings with disabilities to complete an experimental task (i.e., dropping chips into holes). Building on this research, Colletti and Harris (1977) trained an older sister to modify the behaviors of her younger sibling with autism through delivering contingent reinforcement for increased bead stringing. The results of these fairly basic research studies indicated that siblings might be effective in helping children with autism learn functional skills in natural settings.

the study addressed the following research questions:

1. Would the sibling-mediated social intervention change the typically developing children's social behaviors when playing with their siblings with ASD?

2. Would the sibling-mediated social intervention produce increases in the social interactions of the children with ASD?

3. Would the sibling-mediated intervention have a collateral effect on joint attention (a behavior category of child orientation) between children with ASD and their siblings?

4. If the intervention produced an increase in overall interactions, would the increased interactions generalize to a setting outside of the home?

5. Were the outcomes of the intervention socially valid?

more....

Music Therapy aids Social Interaction

Sensory stimulation aids Social Interaction is a hunch that I am working and do not yet have concrete proof of. So I was looking to see if any studies suggest that its possible....

Introduction

Music therapy uses live music making and composition techniques to encourage children, adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders to engage in spontaneous and creative musical activities.

The therapist and client use a variety of percussion or tuned instruments, or voice, to develop shared and interactive musical activities.

The individual with autism does not need musical skills to benefit from music therapy but the music therapist does need a high level of musical and therapeutic skill.

Supporters of music therapy believe that it can be used to develop social engagement, joint attention, communication abilities, while also addressing emotional needs and quality of life.

Aims

According to the National Autistic Society

‘Music therapy aims to encourage increased self-awareness/self-other awareness, leading to more overt social interactions. The therapy stimulates and develops the communicative use of voice and pre-verbal dialogue with another, establishing meaning and relationship to underpin language development. The client may also benefit from increased tolerance of sound, tolerance of and capacity for two-way communication, the opportunity to exercise joint attention, and other emotional needs met in the therapeutic process.’ (National Autistic Society, 2005)

Claims

There have been a number of claims for the use of music therapy with individuals with autism. For example, Wigram, Gold and Oldfield have claimed the following benefits for music therapy.

In the area of Social development:

• Motivated interaction
• Shared and understood experiences
• Relationship building skills
• Tolerance of change
• Entrained responses
• Flexibility

In the area of Emotional needs:

• Developed and Increased sense of self
• Empathic synchronicity – shared emotions
• Containment of emotional expression
• Emergence of insight and self-esteem    

For more....

Working with Asha, Bangalore

Asha - Academy for Severe Handicaps and Autism is a day school at Basavesvaranagar, Bangalore. I will be working with a group of students from Asha through the course of this project.

Today was my first visit to the school. The school has an eclectic approach and the children go through a variety of activities through the day to acquire various skills. I saw the children engage in fine motor activities- beading, lacing, clips; gross motor activities- Yoga; Communication- Pictures, Text, Cards; self help skills- buttoning shirt and Occupational Therapy(SI). In my next visit I will observe a Computer class, Social skills and Art therapy.

Sensory Stuff

Sensory Spaces and Products from the Sensory Impact website.

Tablelit Toy Concept

Tabelit is a learning toy concept that will help people with learning disability to paint by pushing buttons with different coloring facility, allowing expressing their creativity. It has been designed with five different layers and features two mini speakers to produce quality sounds. The left sidebar includes an illuminating touch strip, on which the user can slide their finger to select a color that will come across the switches.
more...

Meeting with Dr. Seshadri and Dr.Golhar

As mentioned in my Brief through the course I will discuss my progress with Specialists in the feild. On thursday I met with Dr. Shekhar Seshadri and Dr. Tejas Golhar ( both are members of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NIMHANS).

They suggested...
I read 'The Me Book', Autism: Explaining the Enigma and theory of mind. Also look up Behavior Therapy - Shaping and Successive approximation.

Considering using PECS in the toy. But in a more grounded contextual way, relating to daily activities and their environment. Made me wonder if its possible to combine PECS and Snoezelen. Hmmm..

I had a question," If the core of Snoezelen is that it is Non-directive and about choice and the power that comes with it then does adding interaction take away or lose the concept; cause now there is a sort of goal or aim?"
The Ans: that a purist approach would say that it should be left completely non-directive. But this would a marriage of two approaches. With Snoezelen children enjoy sensory stimulation (unprocessed stimulation). While interacting they absorbed stimulation is integrated and given direction as there is a goal (processed stimulation). And it is important for autistic children to acquire life skills through adaptive responses.

It might be a good idea to consider creating two products. As there is a great deal of variation between Mild and Severe Autism. Maybe the one would be more sensory and aimed at acquiring life skills (for severe autism) and the other could have levels of interaction and maybe use PECS (mild autism).

Another question,"What are the emotional and social needs of children with Autism? Do like interacting(participation) with people or prefer just having them around(presence)?
Ans: It varies according to the child. There are some children who enjoy the warmth of human touch but cannot relate to the another person and still others who would want to interact but cannot bare to much contact. There is a difference between the willingness to interact and the inability to do so. The willingness to interact is not affected by the severity of autism.

I have more or less decided to work with 3 sensory channels- Sight, Sound, Touch. They said that stimulation should contribute towards acquiring Adaptive Skills. That I should plot sight, sound, touch on the x-axis and adaptive skills on the y-axis and plot targets accordingly. I need to look up the Catherine Morris Checklist.
A hierarchy of Adaptive skills goes as follows:
1. 7 Activities of Daily Living
2. Basic Concept Development
3. Communication of Needs and Experiences
4. Pre Academic

Using toys to trigger Speech

Parents use Puppets as intermediaries to talk and play with their child.
They say initially she would respond to the puppets and prefer to speak
to them or even to the T.V.

So here is something that suggests that toys and play help bridge a gap
and trigger interaction...

Carly speaks out about Autism

Review 1 : Summary

Yashas

July 8, 2010

Says I need to look at what is available in the market.

Visit Sophias Spastics Society.

Observe how children play with Tech Toys

Look at the CARS scale and figure what target group im addressing.

Break down the project into smaller parts.

Spend 3-4 weeks in research.

Said I should not limit myself by the chosen tools- arduino.

Identify my resources in terms of people – children, parents in the city.

 

Geetu

July 12, 2010

Wants me to think about how stimulation can happen without electronics.

What is a home-grown version of Snoezelen?

Feels that the core Snoezelen lies in choice through action. Choice gives you power and control.

Said I should speak to Kalpana for process psychology, Sister Naina (Sophias) who does NAET (allaergy elimination and has worked with autistic children), Gauri who does some alternative stuff with autistic children.

Raised an important question, “What is the difference between ‘Presence’ and ‘Partcipation’? Do autisic children just like having other children / people around or do they actually enjoy being involved, participating with others?

Does the absence of on stimuli enhance the reception of others? Eg. Does eating in a dark restaurant enhance the smell and taste?

 

Koshy

July 13, 2010

Told me to look at The one Key Computer, Zacs Browser and SKID (Technology designed for people with special Needs)

Read up on Piaget, Skinner for the fundamentals

Told me to, “concentrate on three things essentially- how to make their(autistic children) lives easier(more comfortable), happier (play), more enriched(learn through games?)

Think about how to trigger interactivity.

I had come up with a ‘See Saw’( its more fun if more than one person play) as the kind of interaction I’m aiming at. He said thinking of it as a ‘Roundabout’ would be better (many people at once as well as alone is possible)

To think of electronic toys in different way in terms of interaction, sensory stimulation and integration.