Co-design of an eye-gaze based system for emotion recognition in youth with cerebral palsy.

While emotions are an integral part of human self-expression, not everyone conveys their emotions in the same manner. For instance, an individual with cerebral palsy (CP) may experience difficulties in producing clear speech due to severe gross and fine motor impairments and existing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices are limited when head and limb movements are impaired. To assist individuals with CP in overcoming communication barriers, there is a need for a system that can non-invasively interpret physiological signals and convey emotions to their communication partners. The overall aim of the larger thesis project is to co-design an automated interface that can detect and relay emotions. During this international project, we seek to collect eye-gaze based data with individuals with CP and develop an algorithm that can detect emotion using inputs from the user’s gaze. During this project, we will also begin the codesign process of the emotion-recognition system. As Canada makes strides to improve accessibility, it is important to both share our advancements with other countries, as well as learn from their progress. This project will share our work in accessibility with a leading research institution in Australia, as well as allow us to learn from their experiences.

Faculty Supervisor:

Claire Davies

Student:

Partner:

University of Sydney

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Education

University:

Queen's University

Program: