The PLUSME project, led by the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies (ISTC-CNR), aimed to develop a prototype of an interactive technology usable to support early interventions in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).
In more detail, the project further developed the interactive soft toy "PlusMe" – a technological outcome of the previous FET OPEN project GOAL-Robots (www.goal-robots.eu ) – to make this experimental device closer to a potential market exploitation and make it available to interested users.
The toy, shaped like a panda, is the first working prototype of a new design concept defined as "Transitional Wearable Companion (TWC)". The device was designed as a tool to support the therapeutic activities of neurodevelopmental therapists directed to stimulate the social engagement of ASD children.
The project overall goal was pursued through the accomplishment of 3 objectives:
- TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECTIVE 1: Realisation of an engineered, improved device, with the aim to bring the original PlusMe prototype from "Technology Readiness Level TRL 5 - Technology validated in relevant environment" to "TRL 7 - System prototype demonstration in an operational environment";
- CLINICAL OBJECTIVE 2: Carrying out the empirical test of the PlusMe to assess its effectiveness in stimulating social behaviours in ASD children and supporting the therapists in early therapeutic activities;
- DISSEMINATION OBJECTIVE 3: Disseminate the project results and involve in the next testing phase further institutions active in the field of ASD treatment and research, such as rehabilitation centres, universities, and associations.
Concerning the OBJECTIVE 1, the project successfully produced a new improved PlusMe device. This was made possible thanks to the productive partnership with the Institute of Microelectronics and Microsystems, IMM-CNR (www.imm.cnr.it ). This is a research institute that is part of the National Research Council (CNR), the same legal entity of the project coordinator ISTC-CNR. IMM-CNR has a deep expertise in the development of micro electronics. The novel PlusMe device is characterised by several design, hardware and software improvements which advanced the device TRL from 5 to 7 as planned, making it closer to a potential market product. Additionally, as an interesting side product of the whole engineering process, ISTC-CNR also developed a new prototype of TWC device, the octopus X-8. This prototype was specifically designed to support turn-taking games in ASD children and will be tested on ASD children in the next months.
Concerning the OBJECTIVE 2, the experimental trials to test the PlusMe on ASD children were carried out as planned, in collaboration with the Department of Human Neuroscience, Section of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, University of Rome Sapienza ( https://web.uniroma1.it/neuroscienze/home ). The pilot tests, consisting in sensorimotor play activities between child and therapist mediated by the toy, showed that the PlusMe seems to be an effective tool in stimulating the ASD child’s attention and in encouraging, to some extent, certain social behaviours (e.g. eye-contact, imitation, and joint attention). These promising observations, collected from 9 ASD test participants, were obtained through the quantitative analysis of behavioural data collected during the experimental sessions, and through the qualitative feedback from the therapists involved in the trials.
Concerning the OJECTIVE 3, the project results were disclosed to public by means of several activities, promoted through the official website www.plusme-h2020.eu among which: production of scientific papers; participation in international conferences on human-computer interaction and in design events; organisation of two workshops directed to neurodevelopmental therapists and researchers; arrangement of formal agreements with other institutions (such as rehabilitation institutes and associations supporting ASD treatment and educational activities with Typical Developed - TD - children), interested in testing the project technology.
Thanks to the project results, it is now possible to realise the PlusMe toy in a small scale production, in order to involve in the testing phase several potential end-users interested in the technology evaluation (e.g. neurodevelopmental therapists, child psychiatrists, researchers working in developmental psychology).
