Providing Support for Individuals with Autism
One of the major projects of Cehci is the TALA Empathic Space. The TALA Empathic Space provides support for individuals with autism by monitoring their emotional and behavioral states automatically, and adjusting environmental parameters. For instance, because some individuals are light-sensitive, the brightness of the space has to be consistently monitored. TALA has sensors to detect the brightness and adjust lighting as prescribed by the parent. The individual’s favorite music can be played whenever it detects negative emotions using a camera. These responses can be pre-programmed into the TALA Dashboard by the parent or caregiver.
TALA is equipped with a physical sensor network composed of cameras, microphones, location and other ambient sensors. New devices and sensors can be easily added into TALA via its API. Communication between devices and data management are also included in TALA’s work kit. The Center for Empathic Human-Computer Interactions focuses on developing and designing human-centered systems for TALA. Currently, there are 6 major projects under CEHCI: Context Analysis, Wireless Sensor Networks, Music, Multimodal Analysis, Embodied Conversational Agent, and Games.These projects may be under a different domain or these projects may focus on developing systems or designing algorithms for TALA.
Activity Recognition and Data Science. We investigate how context can be incorporated in automatic analysis of human affective behavior.
The TALA Empathic Space This research utilizes sensors and actuators to provide real-time feedback.
Music and Affective Computing Recent research under this field studies EDA signals to recommend music for children with autism.
Verbal, Non-Verbal, and Neurophysiological Analysis on verbal communication, non-verbal expressions, and neurophysiological signals (EEG)
Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Laughter Synthesis Research on academic emotions and learning. And, research on synthesizing naturalistic laughter.
In collaboration with Autism Society Philippines, DLSU-Cehci, Devcon, and SAP Philippines
New Cehci Research Assistants
Workshop on Computation: Theory and Practice
TALA: Empathic Space Booth
TALA: Empathic Space Booth
Jan to Mar 2015
Jan 14, 2015
The Center for Empathic Human-Computer Interactions (CEHCI) investigates the problem of multimodal emotion modeling and empathic response modeling to build human-centered design systems. CEHCI focuses on recognizing human emotions based on facial expressions, speech, and movement (such as posture and gait). We extend a computing system from a software to a physical space, in that case, novel approaches to providing empathic responses are required. To achieve this, we use emotion-based interactions together sensor-rich, ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence.