Autism Glass could be new face in emotion recognition

Autism Glass could be new face in emotion recognition

Like most autistic children, Julian Brown has trouble reading the emotions on people's faces.

It's one of the biggest challenges for people with the neurological disorder.

But now the 10-year-old is getting help from facial recognition software that runs on Google Glass, the computerised eyewear developed by Google.

Stanford University researchers are studying if a device called Autism Glass could drastically help the lives of children suffering from autism.

It's thought the new technology could help autistic children improve their ability to read emotions in people's faces.

Julian wears Autism Glass for an hour a day while interacting with family members.

"There's not a machine that can read your mind. But this helps with the emotions, you know, recognising them," he says.

The device alerts him to the emotions on their faces and tests his ability to read facial expressions.

"I really think it would help autistic people a lot."

Julian is one of around a hundred autistic children participating in the study to see if the device can improve their face-reading abilities.

"The Autism Glass programme is meant to teach children with autism how to understand what a face is telling them and we believe that when that happens they will become more socially engaged and as a consequence of that gain confidence in social settings," lead researcher Dennis Wall says.

The software has been designed to analyse faces and recognise common emotions such as happy, angry, sad and surprised to create a behavioural aide that recognises expressions and faces and gives social cues accordingly.

"It (the device) has helped our son who's using the Google Glasses connect with the family more. He's talking more to us," Julian's mum Kristen Brown says.

If the study shows positive results, the product could be available for families within a few years.

Newshub.