Acceptability of the Transitional Wearable Companion “+me” in Typical Children: A Pilot Study
This work presents the results of the first experimentation of +me-the first prototype of Transitional Wearable Companion–run on 15 typically developed (TD) children with ages between 8 and 34 months. +me is an interactive device that looks like a teddy bear that can be worn around the neck, has tou...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00125/full |
| _version_ | 1828481159010451456 |
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| author | Valerio Sperati Beste Özcan Laura Romano Simone Scaffaro Tania Moretta Giada Turturo Maria Nicoletta Aliberti Vincenzo Guidetti Gianluca Baldassarre |
| author_facet | Valerio Sperati Beste Özcan Laura Romano Simone Scaffaro Tania Moretta Giada Turturo Maria Nicoletta Aliberti Vincenzo Guidetti Gianluca Baldassarre |
| author_sort | Valerio Sperati |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This work presents the results of the first experimentation of +me-the first prototype of Transitional Wearable Companion–run on 15 typically developed (TD) children with ages between 8 and 34 months. +me is an interactive device that looks like a teddy bear that can be worn around the neck, has touch sensors, can emit appealing lights and sounds, and has input-output contingencies that can be regulated with a tablet via Bluetooth. The participants were engaged in social play activities involving both the device and an adult experimenter. +me was designed with the objective of exploiting its intrinsic allure as an attractive toy to stimulate social interactions (e.g., eye contact, turn taking, imitation, social smiles), an aspect potentially helpful in the therapy of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). The main purpose of this preliminary study is to evaluate the general acceptability of the toy by TD children, observing the elicited behaviors in preparation for future experiments involving children with ASD and other PDD. First observations, based on video recording and scoring, show that +me stimulates good social engagement in TD children, especially when their age is higher than 24 months. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:51:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-93f1c664c53e440ca5cf09ecbeac4ef9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T07:51:45Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-93f1c664c53e440ca5cf09ecbeac4ef92022-12-22T01:15:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-02-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.00125396094Acceptability of the Transitional Wearable Companion “+me” in Typical Children: A Pilot StudyValerio Sperati0Beste Özcan1Laura Romano2Simone Scaffaro3Tania Moretta4Giada Turturo5Maria Nicoletta Aliberti6Vincenzo Guidetti7Gianluca Baldassarre8Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ISTC-CNR), Rome, ItalyIstituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ISTC-CNR), Rome, ItalyIstituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ISTC-CNR), Rome, ItalyINI-Villa Dante Division, Italian Neurotraumatological Institute, Rome, ItalyDepartment of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, ItalySection of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyINI-Villa Dante Division, Italian Neurotraumatological Institute, Rome, ItalySection of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Human Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, ItalyIstituto di Scienze e Tecnologie della Cognizione, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (ISTC-CNR), Rome, ItalyThis work presents the results of the first experimentation of +me-the first prototype of Transitional Wearable Companion–run on 15 typically developed (TD) children with ages between 8 and 34 months. +me is an interactive device that looks like a teddy bear that can be worn around the neck, has touch sensors, can emit appealing lights and sounds, and has input-output contingencies that can be regulated with a tablet via Bluetooth. The participants were engaged in social play activities involving both the device and an adult experimenter. +me was designed with the objective of exploiting its intrinsic allure as an attractive toy to stimulate social interactions (e.g., eye contact, turn taking, imitation, social smiles), an aspect potentially helpful in the therapy of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). The main purpose of this preliminary study is to evaluate the general acceptability of the toy by TD children, observing the elicited behaviors in preparation for future experiments involving children with ASD and other PDD. First observations, based on video recording and scoring, show that +me stimulates good social engagement in TD children, especially when their age is higher than 24 months.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00125/fullautism-spectrum-disorderroboticstransitional-wearable-companion+metherapysocial-interaction |
| spellingShingle | Valerio Sperati Beste Özcan Laura Romano Simone Scaffaro Tania Moretta Giada Turturo Maria Nicoletta Aliberti Vincenzo Guidetti Gianluca Baldassarre Acceptability of the Transitional Wearable Companion “+me” in Typical Children: A Pilot Study Frontiers in Psychology autism-spectrum-disorder robotics transitional-wearable-companion +me therapy social-interaction |
| title | Acceptability of the Transitional Wearable Companion “+me” in Typical Children: A Pilot Study |
| title_full | Acceptability of the Transitional Wearable Companion “+me” in Typical Children: A Pilot Study |
| title_fullStr | Acceptability of the Transitional Wearable Companion “+me” in Typical Children: A Pilot Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Acceptability of the Transitional Wearable Companion “+me” in Typical Children: A Pilot Study |
| title_short | Acceptability of the Transitional Wearable Companion “+me” in Typical Children: A Pilot Study |
| title_sort | acceptability of the transitional wearable companion me in typical children a pilot study |
| topic | autism-spectrum-disorder robotics transitional-wearable-companion +me therapy social-interaction |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00125/full |
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