FALL 2020


NEW SMART TOY TAKES SHAPE


NEW SMART TOY TAKES SHAPE


His smart toy design is equipped with machine learning to predict the best plan for individual children and to accommodate for their emotional state. He reasoned that the more likely a child with autism is ready to learn, the better chance he or she will be engaged and acquire the information.


The toys can predict if a student is disinterested or fixated based on patterns, then it will look for ways to interest the student in the next steps or with new topics.


Each session of play is captured using sensors built into the toy to create a pattern of learning. The learn- ing pattern is assessed based on previous 10,000+ sessions increasing the probability to predict the next action. These patterns may help society understand how students learn as well as promote the best op- portunities for learning.


Design Professor Gerry Derksen is fascinated with how autistic children learn.


“I got interested in the subject because of former First Lady Michelle Obama, who started a program for girls who fall between exceptional and in need,” Derksen said. “The students I am working with are in the middle of the spectrum who need help but are not severely impaired but also don’t demonstrate excep- tional skills.”


That learning process is fundamental to Derksen’s Ph.D. dissertation, “Educational Smart Toys for Autistic Children.” He took a sabbatical last year from Win- throp to work on a graduate degree in design tech- nology and culture from University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign (UIUC), one of the top programs in the country.


Derksen’s dissertation examines how to identify pat- terns in student learning to aid them with their dis-


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Derksen, who joined the Winthrop faculty in 2001, has published research on human behavior, cognition and perceptions of interactive media, visualization and designed experiences. He teaches in the digital information design area where students learn about user experience design, usability and visual media.


Since August 2018, Derksen’s toy project has gained interest in academic journals and funding bodies for its initial development. The prestigious journal Formy out of the University of Krakov in Poland published a prospectus entitled “Learning patterns: Intelligent toys for children with autistic disorders” that provides a detailed framework of the study.


The toy project has received funding from two granting bodies; the first from the Campus Research Board at the University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign that funds innovative research projects. Derksen is working with the grant’s principal investigator, Stan Ruecker from the Department of Art + Design at UIUC.


The second grant came from the University of Illinois’ Technology Innovation in Educational Research and Design (TIER-ED) group. Derksen was awarded a 2020-21 graduate fellowship and grant for the toy’s preliminary user study that implements the first functioning prototypes.


Derksen will continue to work on the toy this fall with help from the TIER-ED fellowship grant. He said there are no current plans to commercialize the toy, though plans may change.


ability. Now with the advent of artificial intelligence, there are ways to explore neural networks and ways to predict human behavior. Derksen said education- al game developers understand the importance of relating content to game action to reinforce learning, and then he applied that knowledge to create a smart toy.


“Capturing these physical interactions as well as more traditional assessments of progress help us map the learning process and teaches the intelligent toy to provide support if it encounters struggle,” Derksen said.


Children with autism typically have a hard time tran- sitioning from one subject to another, he said.


Pictured are preliminary drawings and prototype samples of Derksen’s project.


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