Using Wearables to Augment Social Interactions for Adults with ASD

Background:   Leveraging the success of our android-based assistive application to support social skills (MOSOCO), we are building a tool on a Glass platform to further cut down on on the stigma associated with bulky assistive technologies by making a seamless tool that can be accessed without having to interrupt the social interaction it is supporting.

Objectives:  The overarching goal of this work is to establish the effectiveness of using the Glass platform to support social skills for adults with ASD in real-time and identify the underlying mechanisms that support improvements in social interactions. To prepare our tool for a deployment study, we aim to ensure our users find the tool helpful and easy to use in social interactions. 

Methods:  We conducted design sessions with adults with ASD to advance of initial prototype supported by the Glass Accessibility Program.

Results:  Using the Technology Acceptance Model, feedback from adults with ASD yielded user’s values related to assistive technology that impacted our design.

Conclusions: Acceptability of a tool by the user is a critical component to ensure technologies are truly useful and support the values of the user.