AU Lecturers Bring Comfort to Autistic Children

Ever worried about your escalating stress or wished to better control overwhelming situations and emotions, particularly those of autistic people?

This has become possible with an exceptional smart garment ecosystem developed by Emanuela Corti and Ivan Parati, the lecturers with the Department of Interior Design, College of Architecture, Art and Design, Ajman University (AU).

The stunning magnum opus, billed: ‘Sensewear’, can determine the wearer’s stress level and triggers clothes and accessories’ functionalities accordingly to help understand and better control overwhelming situations and emotions.

“Through a comfortable, wearable and customizable tech solution embedding textile sensors, we will be able to constantly monitor selected physiological parameters revealing a stressful condition,” Corti said.

Emanuela and Ivan have been awarded the top prize at GITEX Future Starts held recently for this pioneering product. “It was not an easy win with all submissions extensively evaluated by a team of highly experienced investors, entrepreneurs and industry experts.”

AU lecturers were inspired by the senses and therapies applied to the Sensory Processing Disorders (SPD) that is a common condition in autism where “the natural interface to the outside world is often impaired preventing a regular interaction with people and environment.”

Anxiety, stress and panic attack – some of the autism’s symptoms – proved to be affecting a variety of people without disabilities, she added. “We realized that garments can have a positive impact on a bigger audience.”

The product has been and will be continuously developed in cooperation with autistic children, their families and their therapists, she pointed out. “Autistic children bear a load of emotions, but often find it difficult to control them and to make them understandable for the people who care about them.”

Sensewear collection of inclusive garments can be worn by anyone, Corti underlined. “Technology is hidden in order to increase the level of acceptance and the psychological comfort of the wearer.”

Unobtrusive measurement of physiological parameters will give indication of the stress level of the individual in real-time alarming guardians and therapist in case of detected emergency, she elaborated. “They also give an instant assessment of therapies’ benefits.”

The pioneering ecosystem is composed of a sensing unit, a smart t-shirt, embedding textile sensors connected to an electronic device and satellite garments that embed the therapeutic functionalities, she explained.

“An app for smartphone and tablet will help in visualizing the wearer condition facing different situations, record data and progress with the scope of monitoring the wearer.”