WO2018022075A1

WO2018022075A1 - Smart autism shirt

Info

Publication number: WO2018022075A1
Application number: PCT/US2016/044625
Authority: WO
Inventors: Abderrahim BOUROUIS
Original assignee: 32805.93 Patent Application Trust
Priority date: 2016-07-29
Filing date: 2016-07-29
Publication date: 2018-02-01

Abstract

The smart autism shirt (100) uses e-Textile fabrics to create a body sensor network integrated with vibrators (110) and LED lights (102). The sensors are utilized to sense and record body movement, hand movement, body posture, and hyperactivity. The LED lights (102) are installed on torso (101) and arm portions (105) of the shirt, and the vibrators (110) on the upper back portion (108) of the shirt (100) are selectively actuated to calm an autistic child in crisis. Sound sensors (413) and buzzers are included in the shirt. Information received and recorded by the sensors is wirelessly sent to a smart phone, tablet or smart TV and is processed by an application, (App), and is then transmitted in real time to remote devices and/or locations.

Description

SMART AUTISM SHIRT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to wearable computers, and more particularly to a smart autism shirt that is an article of clothing designed, constructed, and configured as an intelligent wear garment to assist in diagnosing and reducing symptoms of autistic behavior, while facilitating beneficial intervention at home, school, and treatment centers by calming a child in crisis situations.

BACKGROUND ART

As is appreciated in the arts of psychology and cognitive science, emotion is a subjective, conscious experience that is primarily characterized by psycho-physiological expressions, biological reactions, and mental states. The physiology of emotion is closely linked to the arousal of the nervous system. Various states and strengths of arousal correspond to particular emotions. In other words, emotion is a complex state of feeling that results in physical and psychological changes that can influence a person's behavior and the behavior of others that the person interacts with.

Emotion is also linked to behavioral tendency. For example, extroverted people are more likely to outwardly express their emotions, while introverted people are more likely to conceal their emotions. Over the past two decades research on emotion has increased significantly in a number of different fields, such as psychology, neuroscience,

endocrinology, medicine, history, and sociology. There is a well-known correlation between a person's emotional state and their mental well-being. There is also a well-known correlation between a person's emotional state and their physical health.

Thus, a smart autism shirt solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION The smart autism shirt uses e-Textile fabrics to create a body sensor network integrated with vibrators and LED lights. The sensors are utilized to sense and record body movement, hand movement, body posture, and hyperactivity. The LED lights are installed on torso and arm portions of the shirt, and the vibrators on the upper back portion of the shirt are selectively actuated to calm an autistic child in crisis and/or in strange behavior. Sound sensors and buzzers are included in the shirt. Information received and recorded by the sensors is wirelessly sent to a smart phone, tablet or smart TV and is processed by an application (App), and is then transmitted in real time to remote devices and/or locations.

These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a front view of a smart autism shirt according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the smart autism shirt of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a small detachable sensor for the smart autism shirt according to the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the printed circuit board, which is mounted in a housing on the rear of the smart autism shirt of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a wireless communications system for a smart autism shirt according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of the architecture of a control system for a smart autism shirt according to the present invention.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

At the outset, it should be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that embodiments of the present method can comprise software or firmware code executing on a computer, a microcontroller, a microprocessor, or a DSP processor; state machines implemented in application specific or programmable logic; or numerous other forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the method described herein. The present method can be provided as a computer program, which includes a non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that can be used to program a computer (or other electronic devices) to perform a process according to the method. The machine -readable medium can include, but is not limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or other type of media or machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. The smart autism shirt uses e-Textile fabrics to create a body sensor network integrated with vibrators and LED lights. The sensors are utilized to sense and record body movement, hand movement, body posture, and hyperactivity. The LED lights are installed on torso and arm portions of the shirt, and the vibrators on the upper back portion of the shirt are selectively actuated to calm an autistic child in crisis. Sound sensors and buzzers are included in the shirt. Information received and recorded by the sensors is wirelessly sent to a smart phone, tablet or smart TV, and is processed by an application (app), and is then transmitted in real time to remote devices and/or locations.

The present smart autism shirt uses accelerometer data. The accuracy is considered promising, exhibiting low false negative and positive using only one accelerometer sensor located on the back of the body. The sensor location was tested using a mobile application on a smartphone. The mobile application processed the acceleration data in real time and performed classification using the Naive Bayesian algorithm. Furthermore, we developed our machine learning algorithm in the Smartphone with limited resources by adapting the Weka framework to the Android platform.

As second experience, a set of training data is collected by making many activities by two volunteers for a number of times until we obtained a sufficient number of samples for a reliable machine learning process. It consists of many activities using smartphone's accelerometer. We used a Galaxy S2 carried by two volunteers (67 years old, 77 kg and 66 years old, 80 kg), based on the same sensor position (Back of body). They made many activities (Walking, running, sleeping and falling). We developed our application using a reference project Weka-for- Android. The initial experiments indicated that the implemented schemes offer efficient and rapid movement detection with very good accuracy rates and very little energy consumption.

We investigated various positions using many types of accelerometers in order to find the optimal sensor location for behavioral patterns detection, e.g., agitated behavioral mode detection. We developed a wearable system that contains an accelerometer sensor based on 9 degrees of freedom (DOF 9 IMU). The recordings were done in-lab by testing many behaviors, such as body rocking, flapping arms and standing. The accelerometer sensor detects continuous acceleration of the movements based on a 50 Hz sampling rate, which is high enough to detect slight human movements. Results show that using the accelerometer sensor on the back can also be used to record arm movements. Because the arms are coupled with the back via the shoulder, all arm movements are propagated to the back. Fuzzy logic, neural networks, look-up tables, and the like can be used as a means to classify and detect the intensity level of activity and the agitated behavioral modes of the wearer.

The smart shirt 100 was designed using an e-Textile and Body Sensors Network (BSN), considered as a guide for family members or for those who are caregivers outside the centers in how to handle any interference in normal or in crisis situations. The working principle of the shirt is to address the behavior of the autistic child through sensors and patterns found on the shirt and connected together with e-Textile threads. Sensors record the upper part of the body movements, hand movements, body posture, hyperactivity, the lack of movement or stereotypical behavior, and the like. Information mentioned is considered as the most reliable criteria used by the coach or the expert. All depend on a certain time reference in order to determine the amount and type of the behavior. The shirt sends processed information to the intelligent application (phone, tablet or smart TV) periodically, or while recording a special pattern or crisis that requires immediate intervention. The information sent to the application will be treated again using a processor on the remote wireless device 510 in order to guide the user on the correct way based on ABA or TEACCH model. As a second function of the shirt, it allows an accurate short calming therapy for autistic persons with no sensory sensitivity. It uses vibration and LED light outputs. The latter have shown proven effects in real examples. After in-depth study about related works, it shows that the idea of guiding autistic family members based on scientific and professional ways, depending on his behavior and patterns, by using Body sensors networks and e-textile is an original idea, and it had never been addressed before. Regarding the idea of calming during crises, there are some competitors with a large difference, as follows.

Most of the projects are based on deep pressure for calming, although with the effectiveness of the product, but it remains fair to criticize by many users for being eye- catching if an autistic is outside home. Our project depends on vibration motors worn on the upper back and LED lights installed on the chest or on the arms. Using vibrators is scientifically proven in the past few months, but its use on the back had a clear effect when we did real experiments with autistic children, and we consulted experts about the optimal location of the vibe motors. Using other wearable technology (Smart band, Smart watch...) is not favored by a lot of trainers, who considered something extra may distract the autistic, affect his behavior, and increase his sensitivity. In contrary to the shirt, that is accustomed to wear it. In our project, we reduced as much as possible the number of sensors, and we focused on the functional aspect more than any other, as we have replaced many sensors with others reducing energy consumption, with a positive impact on the system. The idea of our project did not neglect this important aspect, and we proposed a new method in order to calm children with autism using sensory inputs, such vibration and light. The shirt 100 (shown in Fig. 1) and the wireless device 510 (shown in Fig. 5) provide the wearable and the guide and control, respectively. As shown in Fig. 5, the smart autism shirt 100 via wireless transceiver 417 communicates over the Internet (or an intranet) 502 to a wireless device 510. The wireless device 510 can be a smart phone, tablet, smart TV, or the like.

As shown in Fig. 1, the present smart autism shirt 100 is based on a simple textile with wearables sewn in or strapped on. The items are all tightly tied by e-Textile wires 333, which are washable, and easy to modify, repair, and install. Referring again to Fig. 1 , the smart autism shirt 100 has a front torso portion 101 having sleeves 105 extending therefrom. LEDs 102 are disposed on distal (from the torso) sleeve ends and are made operable with the aid of conductive fabric 189. As shown in Fig. 2, the back portion 108 of the smart autism shirt 100 includes a removable, hexagonal central housing 112 bounded by a hexagonal peripheral conductive element 114. Conductive snaps are used to attach or detach the detachable hexagonal peripheral conductive element 114. The hexagonal peripheral conductive element 114 joins vibrating units 110, operably connecting the vibrating units 110 to a processing circuit board 400 (shown in Fig. 4), which is housed in the hexagonal central housing 112. In an alternative embodiment, the electronic components are housed in a key fob-sized housing 300, which is attachable to clothing. Elongate conductive straps 116 extend from the lower portion of the hexagonal peripheral conductive element 114 and wrap around to the front of the smart autism shirt 100.

The processor circuit board 400 includes the processor 415, which is connected by a conductive thread 407 via a snap-on connector 405 to the LEDs 102 and via another snap-on connector 411 to vibrating units 110, and is vital for their operation. Additionally, the processor 415 has a circuit connection to a sound sensor 413 and facilitates sensor management, data collection, processing and centralization via circuit connection to wireless transceiver 417, which is used for transmission to the remote wireless device 510, e.g., through Digi International's digital radio module Xbee^®, Bluetooth 4.X low energy(BLE) module, or peer-to-peer (P2P) Over Wi-Fi. An accelerometer 409 is connected to the processor 415 to classify physical behaviors (e.g., repetitive motion, intensity level of activity, and the like) of the wearer. A power board 452 is connected to the processor 415 and peripherals to provide power management to them. The power source for the power board 452 is a connected battery 402. A negative charger port connector 403b and a positive charger port connecter 403 a are also connected to the battery 402.

The processor 415 may be, for example, without limitation, an Arduino^®-compatible FLORA wearable electronic platform, a sewable electronic programmable computer module (Arduino^® Lilypad) or Photon. All of them are designed specifically for eTextile projects, and they are resistant to many conditions, e.g., washing etc.

The accelerometer 409, which is responsible for detection of the wearer's movements, is a three-, six-, or nine-degree of freedom (DOF) IMU module, and can be characterized by great accuracy. The exemplary accelerometer 409 is a DOF-9, (9-degrees of freedom) LSM9DS0. It may also be the type of LSM6DS0, or LMS303. A temperature sensor may also be included in the exemplary inertial measurement unit (IMU) module.

The vibrators 110 are used in parallel with the LEDs 102 in order to calm the autistic child remotely, when needed. The vibrators 110 will be based on the type of Lilypad Vibe Board or the type of Adafruit Flora Vibrating Mini Motor. Both are less energy-consuming, and the choice will be according to the processor type. The LEDs 102 can be kind of Wearable LED or NeoPixel.

An optional buzzer connected to the circuit can generate different sounds, depending on programmed frequency. The proposed element is a Lilypad Buzzer, but can be replaced with a more effective element based on an MP3 player. In this case, a Lilypad MP3 Board will be a good choice.

Light sensors may be disposed in the sleeve component of the smart autism shirt 100, and may be used in order to calm the autistic wearer when a stereotypical behavior is detected. The sound sensor 413 analyzes the child or the environmental sound based on a defined threshold. The processor 415 analyzes the audio frequency picked up by the sound sensor 413. In our project, we propose a sensitive Electret Microphone Amplifier of class MAX4466.

As shown in Fig. 6, the present model includes a sensors layer 602, having an Intra- BSN interface to a first application layer 604a, which performs gateway processing, and an Extra-BSN interface between the first application layer 604a and a second application layer 604b, which performs the guide and control commands of remote wireless device 510.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS We claim:

1. A smart autism shirt for monitoring behaviors of an autistic wearer, comprising: a shirt comprised of e-textile fabric, the shirt having a torso, sleeves, and a back; a plurality of LED lights disposed on the torso and sleeves of the shirt, the LED lights being operably connected via a conductive portion of the e-textile fabric;

a plurality of vibrators disposed on an upper portion of the back of the shirt, the vibrators being operably connected via the conductive portion of the e-textile fabric;

a plurality of body movement recording sensors disposed on the shirt, the body movement recording sensors being operably connected via the conductive portion of the e- textile fabric to form a Body Sensors Network (BSN);

a processor and a processor circuit board the processor being mounted on the processor circuit board, the processor circuit board being attachable and operably connected via the conductive portion of the e-textile fabric to the BSN, the LED lights, and the vibrators, the processor selectively actuating the LED lights and the vibrators responsive to an external wireless signal;

a wireless transceiver attachable to and operable with the BSN, the wireless transceiver being adapted for communicating via the processor data from the body movement recording sensors over a computer network, the transceiver having a receiver portion for receiving the external wireless signal; and

wherein the LED lights and vibrators are used to calm an autistic child in crisis.

2. The smart autism shirt according to claim 1, further comprising a hexagonal central housing, the processor circuit board being disposed therein, the hexagonal central housing being removably attachable to a central portion of the back of the shirt.

3. The smart autism shirt according to claim 1, wherein the wireless transceiver comprises a transceiver selected from the group consisting of a Bluetooth transceiver and a Wi-Fi local area network transceiver.

4. The smart autism shirt according to claim 3, further comprising:

a remote wireless device; and a guide and control application (app) running on the remote wireless device, the app having means for causing the remote wireless device to selectively transmit the external wireless signal based on processing of the body movement recording sensors' data communicated by the wireless transceiver operable with the BSN.

5. The smart autism shirt according to claim 4, wherein said guide and control application (app) includes:

means for determining when the wearer is in an abnormal behavioral mode; and means for transmitting the external wireless signal when the abnormal behavioral mode has been determined.

6. The smart autism shirt according to claim 5, further comprising a sound sensor disposed on the shirt, the sound sensor being operably connected to the BSN.

7. The smart autism shirt according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the body movement recording sensors comprises an accelerometer having an at least three-degree of freedom (DOF) module.

8. The smart autism shirt according to claim 7, wherein the at least three DOF module includes a temperature sensor.

9. The smart autism shirt according to claim 7, wherein the at least three DOF module is disposed on the back of the shirt.