Design, Development and Functionality Evaluation of IoT-enabled User Adaptive Sensory Integration Room for Children...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Therapy
• Assistive Technology
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Research

Background:

• Growing use of digital Sensory Integration Rooms (SIRs) for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
• Need for enhanced efficiency and personalized sensory experiences in SIRs.
• Integration of Internet of Things (IoT) and RFID technologies offers potential improvements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and develop a User Adaptive Sensory Integration Room (UASIR) integrating IoT and RFID.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of the UASIR in managing sensory stimuli and tracking child interactions.
• To assess practitioner satisfaction with the advanced features compared to traditional methods.

Main Methods:

• Development of a UASIR with Sensory Stimulating Devices (SSDs) and interactive control panels.
• Implementation of web interfaces and an RFID-based child identification system.
• Evaluation of four operational modes (relaxing, exciting, customized, active) and practitioner feedback collection.

Main Results:

• Functionality evaluations showed an 88% overall satisfaction rate among 35 practitioners.
• Wilcoxon signed-rank test indicated significantly higher ratings for advanced technologies over traditional methods.
• The UASIR demonstrated high effectiveness in achieving its therapeutic and data acquisition objectives.

Conclusions:

• The developed UASIR, incorporating IoT and RFID, is highly effective for addressing sensory needs in children with ASD.
• Integrated advanced technologies significantly improve upon traditional sensory integration methods.
• The UASIR offers tailored sensory experiences, enhancing behavioral and cognitive skill development in children with ASD.