Keeper is an SCI based tablet game for the practice of emotions in context in 9-15 year olds with ASDs.
Keeper is an Social Competence Intervention based tablet game for the intervention and practice of emotions in context, a component of mentalization, in 9-15 year olds with Asperger Syndrome, PDD-NOS, and High Functioning Autism. Since children and adolescents with ASDs demonstrate higher levels of engagement with interactive media a digital game is a great place for practice and intervention (Mineo et al, 2009).
View a Vimeo of the paper prototype of a main level here.
Why is this an important design?
Individuals with ASDs are often impaired in their ability mentalize. They struggle to interpret “ nonverbal … socially salient information from face, gesture, and body positions,” causing atypical social responses leading to social anxiety and social isolation (David et al, 2009; Kuusikko et al, 2009).
What is the game and intervention?
In Keeper, the player is a new guardian angel that they've personalized. In order to learn be a good guardian and grow strong, beautiful wings, they must learn to interpret the emotions of the human in their charge. This is why the player needs to decode faces in order to win the game.
The structure of social competence intervention (SCI) is employed in the design. The structure of this methodology is: a) introducing skills, b) modeling, c) skill practice in “structured and naturalistic activities,” and d) skill review (Stichter et al, 2010). Many facets of this are embedded in games, described as “situated learning” and “well-ordered problems” (Gee, 2007). The design is also informed by Hierarchical Face Processing Model (Tanaka et al, 2003), used in the effective "Let's Face It" program, and Cognitive-Behavioral Ecological Intervention (Stichter et al, 2010; Bauminger et al, 2007).
What does the player do?
A player can:
- Customize their avatar
- Participate in a tutorial level teaching new expressions
- Fly in a circle by dragging avatar
- Fly closer or farther from charge (zoom) by using iOS pinch gesture
- Bless and erase Shadows to please their charge
- Use Emotion Codex to decode faces
- Gain Friendship points to win the game and show their skill with emotions in context.
- Grow larger and more beautiful wings as a reward
- Save their game
- Review skills in mini-levels
- Track their progress
- Take their angel "out to play" in order to practice with friends
An individual with ASD can have difficulty explaining why another person is displaying an emotion (Tanaka et al, 2003). Therefore, during the game, the player is responsible for a Non Playable Character (NPC), represented by a high resolution model animated in real time. The player decodes his/her emotions in real-time, and watches them for changes in facial expressions and body language.
The NPC reacts to Shadows. In Keeper, the player must watch the NPC to decide whether a Shadow is dangerous or not. If they are dangerous, the player makes them disappear. If the player erases them and the NPC likes them, then the NPC loses Friendship, which the player uses to grow stronger wings.
The wings are an extrinsic reward and scaffolding. Wing growth increases challenge because the player can fly farther from their charge. Facial expressions become harder to read and body language enters the equation, transitioning a player between levels.
The angel has access to an Expression Codex. They can draw the face they see on their charge, and it will reference similar faces so they can find out what emotion they are displaying. These faces display in video panorama format. They also can browse faces using simple icons.
As autism is heterogeneous, it is important to offer different ways for individuals to access helpful information. Parents can add to the Codex using the iPad2 camera or by importing photos from iPhoto or Mobile Me if they have the original iPad.
A Save feature is imperative. Upon return to the game, a review level is completed before returning to the main game. This level must also be completed between levels before moving on to new material.
The game must push learning into everyday socialization for generalization. After playing, the player takes their angel anywhere with them on the tablet. The angel prompts them to interpret the emotions of real people, using the Codex, and follow the steps they learn in-game. The child takes a picture of this person, if they have the iPad2. If not, an adult can observe the interaction.
The adult determines whether the child interpreted correctly and the player receives additional points for both effort and correct interpretation. When the individual does this, they receive additional points for the game and help their angel acquire special items. See the Generalization Flow Chart for more details.
Is this too complicated for a child with ASD?
Children with ASD can be incredibly adept with technology, especially touch screens. The iPad in particular is powerful because of its size and intuitive gesture system. This offers an opportunity to simplify controls by using a system that child will continue to use with the tablet technology of the iPad.
In addition, under the direction of Dr. Brook Ingersoll of the MSU Autism Center, this game is targeted at older children, who naturally have better fine motor skills, and the variants of ASD (Asperger, PDD-NOS, and High Functioning Autism) where children have expressive language and demonstrate high consistency at receiving interventions from a computer or technological device.
What can adults do?
- View data collected on the child
- Customize the NPC to look like friends or family
- Reset levels to be played again
- Lock settings, such as Codex, to ensure the child uses the tool to verify expressions
- Add expressions of friends and family to the Codex by using their own photos
Based on feedback from teachers, parents, and researchers, the game will collect data about the player that can be accessed by an adult. Data for parents and professionals is collected at all levels of the game. It can be viewed through a special password from the start menu of the game. See the slides for more information on data collection.
Adults supporting the child can also customize the NPC to look more like a target friend or family member. They can reset levels a child struggled on and lock settings, such as the Codex, so that children cannot bypass the feature when playing the game.
They can also add additional expressions to the Codex by using their own digital photos. In particular, iPhotos style of face-tagging could be implemented to allow further customization of the game.
References
Additional Items
If you are interested, the original proposal is available as a PDF attachment here.
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