Accessing Peer Social Interaction

Bringing together multimodal and multilevel approaches to study the emergence of social bonds between children and improve social AI

This protocol paper outlines an innovative multimodal and multilevel approach to studying the emergence and evolution of how children build social bonds with their peers, and its potential application to improving social artificial intelligence (AI). We detail a unique hyperscanning experimental framework utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to observe inter-brain synchrony in child dyads during collaborative tasks and social interactions. Our proposed longitudinal study spans middle childhood, aiming to capture the dynamic development of social connections and cognitive engagement in naturalistic settings. To do so we bring together four kinds of data: the multimodal conversational behaviors that dyads of children engage in, evidence of their state of interpersonal rapport, collaborative performance on educational tasks, and inter-brain synchrony. Preliminary pilot data provide foundational support for our approach, indicating promising directions for identifying neural patterns associated with productive social interactions. The planned research will explore the neural correlates of social bond formation, informing the creation of a virtual peer learning partner in the field of Social Neuroergonomics. This protocol promises significant contributions to understanding the neural basis of social connectivity in children, while also offering a blueprint for designing empathetic and effective social AI tools, particularly for educational contexts.

Interactive Technologies Designed for Children with Autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects many people; the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 59 children are currently identified with ASD in the United States. Although it is difficult to generalize about people with ASD due to their heterogeneity, many share an affinity for technologies; as such, numerous academic endeavors and commercial products have focused on the creation of interactive technologies for ASD. In this article, we present findings from 19 interviews and 230 surveys with parents, teachers, and therapists who had children with ASD in their care and had considered or used interactive technologies with those children. We aimed to understand how interactive technologies were used, perceived, desired, and discovered. Findings of use and perception included the following: participants had tried a wide range of commercially available technologies but had very few reported products in common, products were limited to commercial mobile-based apps, and apps were typically perceived positively. In regard to desires, participants hoped for future technologies on diverse platforms (e.g., robots, virtual reality) with more consideration given to personalization, customization, and incorporation of audio and video. Findings about discovery included the following: participants chose technologies in an information-poor environment, and although there are many academic projects aimed at participants’ desires, no participants reported any experience working with researchers. Implications of this study include the need for a recommendation and information sharing system to help people choose and discover appropriate and effective interactive technologies that are a good fit for their child. This work also pointed to a need for such a system to include findings from lab (experimental and usability) studies of commercially available interactive technologies to provide measures of efficacy and usability. Our envisioned system could also potentially help academic researchers with outreach to wider audiences.