A father wanted to build a better communication tool for his child, who has non-verbal autism. He couldn't find a suitable partner until he found 302.

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the problem

Roughly 40 percent of those with autism fall under the non-verbal category. That means they cannot communicate with spoken words and instead need to use devices to interact with caretakers. The devices on the market, however, have three major drawbacks: they cost too much, require users to have high-quality insurance policies and the products are essentially static, with little to no customization options. As he developed the product, Gray needed a partner that shared his vision but also could build special-use interfaces and implement character animations to keep the lessons playful.

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the solution

Parents of kids with autism have specific challenges that they face every single day and that situation is only accelerated when it comes to those whose children are non-verbal. So Gray had a situation where he wanted to develop a technology-driven solution to the obstacles he faced as a parent. The question then became, “What can 302 do to help?” Since then, the company has played a role in the A.L.I.C.E. software’s main tablet, remote tablet and watch app components. The partnership continues to grow as the app and the product develops and approaches an official launch date this summer. What has come from the partnership is a tablet-based solution that helps families communicate, which improves connections and wellbeing for both children and parents. Lowering cost also increases accessibility, which means technology doing good for more people.

Daniel Gray has tried other devices and platforms meant to aid communication in families with children who have been diagnosed with autism. But a combination of high cost, stringent insurance requirements and lack of customization convinced the engineer that he needed to build his own.

“Every autistic or special needs kid is different,” Gray said. “Then you see these devices on the market and they are all the same. How do you expect to say every kid is different but the treatment for every kid is the exact same?” One of the driving philosophies behind 302 Interactive CEO Kyle Morrand is using technology and gaming mechanics to do good things in the world.

When Gray approached 302 Interactive, it was only a matter of moments before the team agreed to help him. The company has built the interface that users interact with on A.L.I.C.E., which stands for Animated Learning Interactive Communication Engine. For Gray, finding 302 Interactive was a relief. He had found other partners but those companies failed to match his enthusiasm for the product and his insistence that the developers focus on the end users and accessibility. That alignment essentially made the decision for him.

“They really put their heart into this product,” Gray said of 302 Interactive. “They are just as excited on updates and working with the product as we are.”

“Every autistic or special needs kid is different,” Gray said. “Then you see these devices on the market and they are all the same. How do you expect to say every kid is different but the treatment for every kid is the exact same?”

At its core, a large component of this project related to word-picture association and training devices to recognize items. 302 developed the interface that allows users to construct sentences through word-picture association.

The team implemented a text-to-speech API so its users can hear the full sentence that has been created. Also, users have the freedom to build a word bank for their respective devices, which means opening up an interface for admins to do so. Finally, animated celebrations play after successful sentence creation.

ADDING CONVENIENCE TO COMMUNICATION

One challenge solved for this project is the ability for users to populate a word bank to use in unique locations, such as a kitchen. The remote version of A.L.I.C.E. does just that.

Another challenge was how to streamline interaction for caretakers to easily understand a sentence. That’s where a smart watch app that receives messages improves things for both caretaker and user.

PROVIDING TECH-DRIVEN SOLUTIONS

NuEyes has been concerned with accessibility since it first decided to approach LOW VISION patients as their target market. That is one of the major reasons 302 so quickly partnered with the company. They saw that NuEyes was not interested in becoming just another AR company building video games. They wanted to change the world.

In 2022, a quality of life improvement can be as close as the next company or tech business that creates something amazing. Through their collaboration, 302 Interactive and NuEyes hope to help as many of the 2.9 million Americans over age 40 who have low vision. Technology in this age has become the catalyst for so many improvements in life and it should be no different for people whose visual acuity has decreased. The partnership represents another way that augmented reality can represent the “tech for good” ideal.