About the project

Over 1 million children under the age of 17 in the US are on the autism spectrum. These children often times fail to recognize basic facial emotions, which make social interactions and developing friendships even more difficult to sustain. Gaining these skills requires intensive behavioral interventions that are often expensive, difficult to access, and inconsistently administered.

Our team at Stanford is researching a solution. We have developed a system using machine learning and artificial intelligence to automate facial expression recognition that runs on wearable glasses and delivers real-time social cues. Our novel system uses the outward-facing camera on the glasses to read facial expressions and provides social cues within the child’s natural environment. It also records the amount and type of eye contact, which adds an additional layer for behavioral intervention.