ASD

The New St. Pete Pier's design has been updated since the start of the project, due to financial restraints. More

The Stretch|PLAY prototype is developed as a part of the Social Sensory Surface research project. The research project looks to develop new material technologies as tactile interfaces designed to confront critical challenges of learning and social engagement for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This interdisciplinary research brings together faculty, students and researchers from Architecture, Computer Science, School of Music, School of Information and Civil Engineering. Additionally, the team includes collaborators in Interaction Design, Occupational Therapy, and from the PLAY project (an early-intervention program in Ann Arbor for improving social interaction skills for children with ASD). For the initial phase of research, a five year-old girl with Autism named Ara is used as the focus of study, to develop technologies which address her specific motoric, communication and social challenges. Ara is the daughter of one of the lead primary investigators, Prof. Sean Ahlquist. Stretch|PLAY focuses on developing environments for collaborative play through multi-sensory engagement. Collaborative play helps children with ASD form skills in communication and social interaction, following the methods established by the PLAY Project in establishing “circles of communication” or back and forth interactions. Designing for specific sensory inputs and outputs helps the child engage, to improve skills in attentiveness, exploration and regulation. This is exemplified in the Stretch|Play prototype; a project formed of a large-scale textile environment with a range of tactile, visual and auditory feedback. Various sensory outputs are designed as overlays of projections and sound maps. Certain effects are triggered by a single activation point. Other effects are triggers by pairs of activation points, where a back and forth exchange is encouraged for two participants in order to select the set of matching triggers at the same time. For more information visit: http://taubmancollege.umich.edu/research/research-through-making/2015/social-sensory-surfaces Primary Investigators Asst. Prof. Sean Ahlquist, Architecture Dr. David Chesney, Computer Science Assoc. Prof. Sile O'Modhrain, School of Music and School of Information Collaborators Cathy Schuh, Occupational Therapist, Spectrum Therapy Center Onna Solomon, Behavorial Therapist, P.L.A.Y. Project Collin McRae Leix, Interaction Designer, Little Hill Studio Dr. Rita Benn, Director of Education, U-M Integrative Medicine Researchers Vanessa Argento, Taylor Boes, Evan Buetsch, Evan Cann, Sam Zhengcheng Cui, Karen Duan, Alina Granville, Peter Halquist, Patty Hazle, Molly Knight, Yu-Jen Lin, Tommy Kyung Tae Nam, Andres Marin, Henry Peters, Coco Ke Shi, Bing Sun, Yurong Wu, Jason Chao-Chung Yang, Dalton Zautke Special Thanks Liz Bartlett, Textile Designer, Knit-It Peter von Buelow, Structural Engineer, University of Michigan Mary Burke, Director, Spectrum Therapy Center Joshua Plavnick, assistant professor of special education, Michigan State University Tabitha Wisecup, Assistant Director, Spectrum Therapy Center This research was funded by the Research Through Making Grant from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. More

SOCIAL SENSORY SURFACES Physical Computing, Tactile (Textile) Interfaces and Collaborative Tools for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder This research looks to develop new material technologies as tactile interfaces designed to confront critical challenges of learning and social engagement for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This interdisciplinary research brings together faculty, students and researchers from Architecture, Computer Science, School of Music, School of Information and Civil Engineering. Additionally, the team includes collaborators in Interaction Design, Occupational Therapy, and from the PLAY project (an early-intervention program in Ann Arbor for improving social interaction skills for children with ASD). The project connects expertise and technology in textile structures and CNC knitting, programming of gestural and tactile input devices, and design of haptic and visual interfaces for enhanced musical expression. With textiles, the tactile interface is expanded in scale, from wearables to environments and varied in types of input for human-computer interactions. The textiles are tailored for gradations of touch and pressure sensitive input from large sweeping gestures to fine touch, calibrated to prompt a wide variety of responses. For the initial phase of research, a five year-old girl with Autism named Ara is used as the focus of study, to develop technologies which address her specific motoric, communication and social challenges. Ara is the daughter of one of the lead primary investigators, Prof. Sean Ahlquist. For more information visit: http://taubmancollege.umich.edu/research/research-through-making/2015/social-sensory-surfaces Primary Investigators Asst. Prof. Sean Ahlquist, Architecture Dr. David Chesney, Computer Science Assoc. Prof. Sile O'Modhrain, School of Music and School of Information Collaborators Cathy Schuh, Occupational Therapist, Spectrum Therapy Center Onna Solomon, Behavorial Therapist, P.L.A.Y. Project Collin McRae Leix, Interaction Designer, Little Hill Studio Dr. Rita Benn, Director of Education, U-M Integrative Medicine Researchers Vanessa Argento, Taylor Boes, Evan Buetsch, Evan Cann, Sam Zhengcheng Cui, Karen Duan, Alina Granville, Peter Halquist, Patty Hazle, Molly Knight, Yu-Jen Lin, Tommy Kyung Tae Nam, Andres Marin, Henry Peters, Coco Ke Shi, Bing Sun, Yurong Wu, Jason Chao-Chung Yang, Dalton Zautke Special Thanks Liz Bartlett, Textile Designer, Knit-It Peter von Buelow, Structural Engineer, University of Michigan Mary Burke, Director, Spectrum Therapy Center Joshua Plavnick, assistant professor of special education, Michigan State University Tabitha Wisecup, Assistant Director, Spectrum Therapy Center This research was funded by the Research Through Making Grant from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. More