Adaptive AI app to support social and emotional learning in children with autism
An active learning framework for adaptive autism healthcare
This project uses an AI-powered smartphone app called Guess What to guide play that helps measure and practice social and emotional skills in young children with autism.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Stanford University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Stanford, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11145876 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From your perspective, the team built a mobile app that prompts social and emotion-focused games while the phone camera and sensors capture how your child responds. The app uses active learning and AI to personalize prompts and to measure developmental learning over repeated at-home play sessions. Families would use the app at home and share anonymized video and interaction data with researchers to improve the models. The goal is a convenient, engaging tool parents can use to reinforce prosocial behavior and track progress over time.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, especially in early childhood through elementary ages (approximately 0–11 years), whose caregivers can use a smartphone and consent to data sharing.
Not a fit: Children without reliable smartphone access, those with severe sensory or behavioral challenges that prevent using the app, or those seeking immediate medical interventions may not benefit from this tool.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could give families an accessible at-home tool to practice social skills with their child and get more objective measures of progress.
How similar studies have performed: Early pilot work with mobile and AI tools for autism shows feasibility and user engagement, but convincing evidence of large clinical benefit is still limited.
Where this research is happening
Stanford, United States
- Stanford University — Stanford, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Wall, Dennis Paul — Stanford University
- Study coordinator: Wall, Dennis Paul
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.