Campolo Domenico, Taffoni Fabrizio, Formica Domenico, Iverson Jana, Sparaci Laura, Keller Flavio, Guglielmelli Eugenio
School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 639798, Singapore.
J Integr Neurosci. 2012 Mar;11(1):103-16. doi: 10.1142/S0219635212500070.
This paper describes an interdisciplinary approach to the assessment of children development of spatial cognition, with a focus on the technology. An instrumented toy (block-box) is presented which embeds magneto-inertial sensors for orientation tracking, specifically developed to assess the ability to insert objects into holes. The functional specifications are derived from experimental protocols devised by neuroscientists to assess spatial cognition skills in children. Technological choices are emphasized with respect to ecological requirements. Ad-hoc calibration procedures are presented which are suitable to unstructured environments. Preliminary results based on experimental trials carried out at a day-care on typically developing children (12-36 months old) show how the instrumented objects can be used effectively in a semi-automatic fashion (i.e., rater-independent) to derive accurate measurements such as orientation errors and insertion time which are relevant to the object insertion task. This study indicates that a technological approach to ecological assessment of spatial cognition in children is indeed feasible and maybe useful for identification and early assessment of developmental delay.
本文描述了一种评估儿童空间认知发展的跨学科方法，重点是相关技术。文中介绍了一种装有仪器的玩具（积木盒），它嵌入了用于方向跟踪的磁惯性传感器，专门用于评估将物体插入孔洞的能力。功能规格源自神经科学家设计的实验方案，用于评估儿童的空间认知技能。文中强调了在生态需求方面的技术选择。还介绍了适用于非结构化环境的特殊校准程序。基于在日托中心对正常发育儿童（12至36个月大）进行的实验试验得出的初步结果表明，装有仪器的物体可以以半自动方式（即与评分者无关）有效使用，以得出与物体插入任务相关的准确测量结果，如方向误差和插入时间。这项研究表明，一种用于儿童空间认知生态评估的技术方法确实可行，可能有助于识别和早期评估发育迟缓。
