{"639077":{"#nid":"639077","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Part of $5 Million Grant to Develop AI Tech Supporting Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Workplace","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/nsf.gov\u0022\u003ENational Science Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E has awarded a $5 million grant to a multi-university team of researchers that includes \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E to create novel artificial intelligence technology that trains and supports individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the workplace.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe investment follows a successful $1 million, nine-month pilot grant to the same team, which also includes Yale University, Cornell University, Vanderbilt University, and the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s portion of the grant is $500,000.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELed by co-principal investigator Professor \u003Cstrong\u003EJim Rehg\u003C\/strong\u003E of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ic.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech will develop methods for assessing nonverbal communication behaviors during face-to-face social interactions such as job interviews.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Our innovative approach uses an unobtrusive wearable camera to record social behaviors, which are then analyzed using computer vision and deep learning models,\u0026rdquo; Rehg said. \u0026ldquo;Our automated analysis will allow job seekers to get feedback on their communication skills as part of our team\u0026rsquo;s integrated approach to job interview coaching.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project, which is part of the NSF\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/od\/oia\/convergence-accelerator\/\u0022\u003EConvergence Accelerator\u003C\/a\u003E program, addresses an underutilized U.S. talent pool that poses a \u0026ldquo;critical but overlooked public health and economic challenge: how to include individuals with ASD\u0026rdquo; in the workforce, according to Vanderbilt Professor \u003Cstrong\u003ENilanjan Sarkar\u003C\/strong\u003E who is leading the project team.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EConsider:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EOne in 54 people in the United States has ASD;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EEach year 70,000 young adults with ASD leave high school and face grim employment prospects;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EMore than 8 in 10 adults with ASD are either unemployed or underemployed, a significantly higher rate than adults with other developmental disabilities;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EThe estimated lifetime cost of supporting an individual with ASD and limited employment prospects $3.2 million.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EThe total estimated cost of caring for Americans with ASD was $268 billion in 2015 and projected to grow to $461 billion in 2025.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EAn estimated $50,000 per person per year could be contributed back into society when individuals with ASD are employed.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We want to harness the power of AI, stakeholder engagement and convergent research to include neurodiverse individuals in the 21\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C\/sup\u003E century workforce,\u0026rdquo; Sarkar said. \u0026ldquo;We feel that there is a big opportunity to turn great societal cost into great societal value.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor this project, organizational, clinical and implementation experts are integrated with engineering teams to pave the way for real-world impact. The multi-university, multi-disciplinary team already has commitments from major employers to license some of the technology and tools developed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers will address three themes:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EIndividualized assessment of unique abilities and appropriate job-matching\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ETailored understanding and ongoing support related to social communication and interaction challenge\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ETools to support job candidates, employees and employers.\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAlready, notable private-sector companies that employ people with ASD have committed to using at least one of the technologies developed under this program: Auticon, The Precisionists, Ernst \u0026amp; Young and SAP among them.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETwo other companies, Floreo and Tipping Point Media, will make their existing VR modules available for adaptation to the program. Microsoft, which has a long-standing interest in hiring people with ASD, is involved as well and provided seed funding and access to cloud services for technology integration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe five technologies can be used separately or as an integrated system, and the work has broader potential beyond ASD to expand employment access. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 50 million people have ASD, attention-deficit\/ hyper-activity disorder, learning disability or other neuro-diverse conditions.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech will develop methods for assessing nonverbal communication behaviors during face-to-face social interactions such as job interviews."}],"uid":"33939","created_gmt":"2020-09-14 17:52:01","changed_gmt":"2020-09-14 17:52:01","author":"David Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-09-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-09-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"590844":{"id":"590844","type":"image","title":"Child Study Lab Autism Research","body":null,"created":"1493061979","gmt_created":"2017-04-24 19:26:19","changed":"1493061979","gmt_changed":"2017-04-24 19:26:19","alt":"Lab coordinator Audrey Southerland, along with undergraduate assistants, leads data collection at the Child Study Lab.","file":{"fid":"225112","name":"Autism5.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Autism5.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Autism5.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":329499,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Autism5.jpg?itok=zD1Nfmye"}}},"media_ids":["590844"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1299","name":"GVU Center"},{"id":"576481","name":"ML@GT"},{"id":"431631","name":"OMS"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"182941","name":"cc-research; ic-cybersecurity; ic-hcc"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EDavid Mitchell\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:david.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edavid.mitchell@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}