PROVO, Utah — A BYU Engineering Capstone team and their sponsor have created a pair of glasses to help children with autism connect and establish eye contact.
Children with autism often find it difficult to make eye contact, which can add an additional challenge when trying to make friends.
The glasses have the ability to stream animations through the lenses, and the opacity of the animations can be controlled by the user.
With low opacity, the users eyes are visible to the child, which can help them get comfortable establishing and maintaining eye contact.
Inspiration for this idea came to sponsor Heidi Kershaw during a therapy session with her son who has autism.
At the session, her son struggled to complete exercises but was fully focused on the Mickey Mouse program on TV.
A team of three mechanical engineering students and three electrical engineering students developed prototypes within weeks.
They hope their glasses are able to change lives of children and families all around the country.
