| NSF Org: |
IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | September 4, 2020 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | October 20, 2020 |
| Award Number: | 2014232 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Wendy Nilsen
wnilsen@nsf.gov (703)292-2568 IIS Division of Information & Intelligent Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | October 1, 2020 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,100,099.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,100,099.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
450 JANE STANFORD WAY STANFORD CA US 94305-2004 (650)723-2300 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1265 WELCH RD, SUITE X141 PALO ALTO CA US 94305-5102 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Smart and Connected Health |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
Neuropsychiatric disorders are the single greatest cause of disability due to non-communicable disease worldwide, accounting for as much as 19% of the global burden of disease. These disorders include autism spectrum disorder, which is among the fastest growing pediatric concerns today and highly representative of many other neuropsychiatric conditions. The current standards of care for neuropsychiatric disorders are negatively impacted by subjectivity, inconsistent delivery, and limited access as waiting lists grow. New informatics solutions, in particular artificial intelligence (AI), that can port to more ubiquitous mobile health devices and that are not restricted for use in clinical settings, have great potential to complement the current standards of care. With this research project, a novel digital support for autism will be developed. Specifically, working together with families and their affected children ages 2-8, we will establish a gaming system for mobile devices. This system will use augmented reality and AI to adapt to the child?s needs and foster a social exchange between the primary caregiver and the child. This mobile solution will connect families to care, fostering the development of a community of stakeholders, together with AI models capable of personalizing care and tracking progress.
This project will: (1) combine human-computer-interaction with clinically validated treatment approaches through iterative co-design with affected children and their families; (2) identify at least three promising augmented reality game modes that address core autism features including social-reciprocity and emotional understanding; (3) lower barriers to secure and trustworthy data sharing by game players; and (4) construct a series of AI models from game play data that can be used to understand and dynamically react to the treatment effect during game play. Our research project will result in an engaging at-home digital tool accessible to any family with a smartphone (iOS or Android). The project will show how this mobile AI solution can act as a scalable supplement to standard therapy and one that has the potential to reduce the healthcare burden by empowering caregivers. Finally, the research will generate solutions, code, examples, and computer vision libraries that will enable the development of a broader platform for AI in the mobile environment in socioeconomically diverse populations and set the stage for similar solutions for other mental health conditions.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Our work has been able to demonstrate promise for use of native applications and smartphones to provide reliable healthcare for children with developing needs. During the award period, we worked with more than 300 families to co-develop a digital health solution that can provide valuable treatment for children with developmental delays between the ages of 3 and 8. We were able to show how this application can help support families with autism and augment standard approaches to treatment. We have also been able to leverage the data generated during game play to develop novel AI models that show promise for automatic measurements of developmental needs and for tracking a child’s developmental progress in a safe and equitable way.
Our project has so far focused on autism, which today impacts 1 in 36 children, as an important healthcare challenge where proper detection and treatment are crucial to long-term positive health outcomes. However, our approaches can be replicated for other child health conditions including but not limited to ADHD, dyslexia, speech and language delay, depression, and anxiety. The AI libraries that we have developed provide a foundational set of training data that can be explored and expanded for myriad purposes across child health and education. Importantly our efforts have begun to demonstrate equitable performance across various a range of race and ethnic category, gender, culture and languages.
Last Modified: 02/12/2025
Modified by: Dennis P Wall
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