Design, Development and Functionality Evaluation of IoT-enabled User Adaptive Sensory Integration Room for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

An increase in the usage of advanced digital Sensory Integration Rooms (SIRs) is being witnessed to address specific sensory needs of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and to improve their behavior and cognitive skills. The addition of Internet of Things (IoT) and RFID-based technologies improves the efficiency of such SIRs, which has been discussed in this paper. A User Adaptive Sensory Integration Room (UASIR) is designed and developed with a pool of Sensory Stimulating Devices (SSDs) to provide appropriate visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli. Interactive control panels followed by web interfaces and an RFID-based child identification system are introduced to elicit the capacities of stimuli management, efficient tracking of individual child interactions, and data acquisition. Four operational modes are emphasized in UASIR, including (i) relaxing (ii) exciting (iii) customized, and (iv) active, allowing for tailored sensory experiences based on individual preferences and therapeutic goals. Functionality evaluations reveal an overall satisfaction rate of 88% by 35 practitioners who utilized UASIR, indicating that it is highly effective in achieving its objectives. Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that practitioners' ratings for the use of added technologies are significantly higher compared to traditional fixed and manual methods, confirming the usefulness of integrated advanced features.