{"id":823765,"date":"2022-03-14T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/?p=823765"},"modified":"2022-10-19T07:58:56","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T14:58:56","slug":"peoplelens-using-ai-to-support-social-interaction-between-children-who-are-blind-and-their-peers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/blog\/peoplelens-using-ai-to-support-social-interaction-between-children-who-are-blind-and-their-peers\/","title":{"rendered":"PeopleLens: Using AI to support social interaction between children who are blind and their peers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A
The PeopleLens is a new research technology designed to help people who are blind or have low vision better understand their immediate social environments by locating and identifying people in the space. Coupled with a scheme of work based on research and practices from psychology and speech and language therapy, the system can help children and young people who are blind more easily forge social connections with their peers.<\/center><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For children born blind, social interaction can be particularly challenging. A child may have difficulty aiming their voice at the person they\u2019re talking to and put their head on their desk instead. Linguistically advanced young people may struggle with maintaining a topic of conversation, talking only about something of interest to them. Most noticeably, many children and young people who are blind struggle with engaging and befriending those in their age group despite a strong desire to do so. This is often deeply frustrating for the child or young person and can be equally so for their support network of family members and teachers who want to help them forge these important connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPUBLICATION<\/span>\n\t\t\tPeopleLens<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The PeopleLens is an open-ended AI system that offers people who are blind or who have low vision further resources to make sense of and engage with their immediate social surroundings.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The PeopleLens<\/a> is a new research technology that we\u2019ve created to help young people who are blind (referred to as learners<\/em> in our work) and their peers interact more easily. A head-worn device, the PeopleLens reads aloud in spatialized audio the names of known individuals when the learner looks at them. That means the sound comes from the direction of the person, assisting the learner in understanding both the relative position and distance of their peers. The PeopleLens helps learners build a People Map<\/em>, a mental map of those around them needed to effectively signal communicative intent. The technology, in turn, indicates to the learner\u2019s peers when the peers have been \u201cseen\u201d and can interact\u2014a replacement for the eye contact that usually initiates interaction between people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For children and young people who are blind, the PeopleLens is a way to find their friends; however, for teachers and parents, it\u2019s a way for these children and young people to develop competence and confidence in social interaction. An accompanying scheme of work aims to guide the development of spatial attention skills believed to underpin social interaction through a series of games that learners using the PeopleLens can play with peers. It also sets up situations in which learners can experience agency in social interaction. A child\u2019s realization that they can choose to initiate a conversation because they spot someone first or that they can stop a talkative brother from speaking by looking away is a powerful moment, motivating them to delve deeper into directing their own and others\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PeopleLens is an advanced research prototype that works on Nreal Light augmented reality glasses tethered to a phone. While it\u2019s not available for purchase, we are recruiting learners in the United Kingdom aged 5 to 11 who have the support of a teacher to explore the technology as part of a multistage research study. For the study, led by the University of Bristol, learners will be asked to use the PeopleLens for a three-month period beginning in September 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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