The paper introduces Reflex, a mirrored camera mobile training application for persons with Neuro-Developmental Disorder (NDD). The game, offered through a cross-platform application for smartphones and tablets, bridges the digital and the physical worlds by tracking, via a bottom-looking mirror positioned on the device camera, physical items placed on the table. This interaction paradigm defined as phygital, its co-designed features and the first pilot study reveal an unexplored potential for learning. CCS CONCEPTS • Social and professional topics → People with disabilities; • General and reference → Empirical studies; • Software and its engineering → Interactive games.

Interactive Multi-Sensory Environments (iMSEs) are roomsized interactive installations equipped with digitally enriched physical materials and ambient embedded devices. These items can sense users' presence, gestures, movements, and manipulation, and react by providing gentle stimulation (e.g., light, sound, projections, blowing bubbles, tactile feel, aromas) to different senses. Most of prior research on iMSEs investigates their use for persons with disabilities (e.g., autism). Our work focuses on the use of iMSEs in primary education contexts and for mixed groups of young students, i.e., children with and without disability. The paper describes the latest version of an iMSE called Magic Room that has been installed in two local schools. We report two empirical studies devoted to understand how the Magic Room could be used in inclusive educational settings, and to explore its potential benefits.

Magika is an interactive Multisensory Environment that enables new forms of playful interventions for children, especially those with Special Education Needs. Designed in cooperation with more than 30 specialists at local care centers and primary schools, Magika integrates digital worlds projected on the wall and the floor with a gamut of "smart" physical objects (toys, ambient lights, materials, and various connected appliances) to enable tactile, auditory, visual, and olfactory stimuli. The room is connected with an interface for educators that enables them to: control the level of stimuli and their progression; define and share a countless number of game-based learning activities; customize such activities to the evolving needs of each child. This paper describes Magika and discusses its potential benefits for play, education and inclusion. CCS CONCEPTS • Applied computing → Interactive learning environments; • Human-centered computing → Displays and imagers; Accessibility systems and tools; • Social and professional topics → People with disabilities; Children; • Hardware → Tactile and hand-based interfaces; • Computer systems organization → Sensors and actuators.

No abstract

This research explores the anthropomorphic perception of Emoty by its target user. Emoty is a Conversational Agent specifically designed as an emotional facilitator and trainer for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). NDD is a group of conditions that are characterized by severe deficits in the cognitive, emotional, and motor areas and produce severe impairments in communication and social functioning. Our application promotes skills of emotion expression and recognition and was developed in cooperation with psychologists and therapists as a supporting tool for regular interventions.We conducted an empirical study with 19 people with NDD. We observed their behavior while interacting with the system and recorded the commentaries they made and the questions they asked when the session was over. Starting from this, we discovered a twofold nature of Emoty: for some aspects, it is perceived more like a machine, but for some others, it is more human-like. In this regard, we discussed some relevant points about gender, fallibility, interaction, and sensitivity of the agent, and we paved the ground towards a better understanding of the perception of people with NDD concerning Conversational Technology.