Old device has new purpose helping kids with autism

A piece of technology which received massive criticism when first launched, is now helping kids with autism who have a harder time with social interactions.

"We are not only helping the families with creating a learning tool, but we are co-creating it with them," says Jena Daniels with Stanford's Autism Glass Project.

Here is how it works, essentially Daniels says when a child wearing Google glasses talks with someone, facial recognition software can determine what emotion they are displaying. On the glasses camera, an emoji expression will appear, which in turn helps the child understand different facial cues and its meaning.

"The goal is to not have this be a prosthetic at all, we do not want that. We want this to truly be a learning tool or learning aid to help kids to increase their ability for social interactions and provide some confidence," says Daniels.

Currently, researchers are looking for 100 families in California who have children with autism and some without, to test how the glasses work in a real-life scenario. Following this part of the study, they are looking at adding a remote launch and although it is not active they will accept applications from families who are interested in being apart of the national program.

The eligibility questionnaire will guide families through a series of questions to see if the clinical study is right for their family.

You can find more information about the research here.