66271Improve video conference therapy for children and young adults presenting with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, by using augmented reality animations, driven by A.I.ClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKBy putting together a consortium of A.I. practitioners, an NHS therapist and a leading UK animator, we will build an augmented reality platform that helps therapists interact with children and young people presenting with Autistic Spectrum Disorder via video conference. Therapy sessions by video conference have become necessary because of the COVID-19 pandemic. However they present challenges to the therapist trying to engage their client, and pick up subtle and unusual social cues. Our platform overlays the therapy session conducted by video conference with a cartoon character who responds constructively to the content, sentiment and tone of the conversation. We believe that this will engage the child or young person presenting with A.S.D., and improve clinical outcomes. Our platform will provide the therapist and child or young person with a selection of animations that illustrate a key learning outcome such as "how to handle bullying" or "how to go on a play-date". The animation can then be discussed by the therapist and child, with the character from the animation overlaid into the chat. During the conversation, the A.I. detects the content, sentiment and tone of the interaction and causes the character to perform pre-determined animated responses. With a combined total of 40+ years experience in A.I. and data science across academia and industry, 10 years of experience of practical work with autistic children, and 20 years of cutting edge animation, our team brings together an unrivalled combination of experience in science, engineering, healthcare and the creative industries. Our system will use a combination of internal tools and external A.P.I's to perform advanced Natural Language Processing and emotion detection to drive the movement of the animated characters. There are over 100,000 children and young people presenting with with A.S.D. in the U.K. Provision of therapy services to these children has been disrupted due to the COVID-19 epidemic, as live interactive sessions are moved online. We aim to mitigate the disruption that this has caused with our platform. With the extension for impact, we are able to build partnerships with UK universities, and engage with charities and parents groups . This will provide independent evidence how the product helps families improve the quality of therapy sessions.