166 Int. J. Metadata, Semantics and Ontologies, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2018
Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
SMART-ASD, model and ontology definition:
a technology recommendation system for
people with autism and/or intellectual disabilities
Javier Sevilla*, J. Javier Samper,
Gerardo Herrera and Marcos Fernández
IRTIC,
Universität de València,
Valencia, Spain
Email: Javier.Sevilla@uv.es
Email: Jose.J.Samper@uv.es
Email: Gerardo.Herrera@uv.es
Email: Marcos.Fernandez@uv.es
*Corresponding author
Abstract: There are many studies that encourage the use of mobile device solutions to improve the
skills of people with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). There are a number of apps that may be
useful for people with ASD, some specifically designed for them, and others not. The main goal of the
SMART-ASD project is to assist in the selection of adequate technology and all related accessories. In
this project, the users’ data are maintained into an ontology. This ontology also includes information
about devices, apps, and protection. The system is a hybrid recommendation system that guides parents
and professionals in the selection of the adequate technology. This paper presents the SMART-ASD
model and its representation by reusing an ontology from related projects.
Keywords: provenance; multi-agent systems; explainable artificial intelligence.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Sevilla, J., Samper, J.J., Herrera, G.
and Fernández, M. (2018) ‘SMART-ASD, model and ontology definition: a technology
recommendation system for people with autism and/or intellectual disabilities’, Int. J. Metadata,
Semantics and Ontologies, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp.166–178.
Biographical notes: Javier Sevilla has a degree and a Master degree in Computer Science by
Engineering from the University of Valencia. He is Associate Professor at the School of
Engineering, performing his research in ARTEC and Autism Lab at IRTIC Institute (University of
Valencia). He has participated in over 20 R&D projects related with Semantic Web, ASD and IT
and Virtual/Augmented Reality research lines. He has also published many scientific papers related
with those areas. Furthermore he is Secretary of ADAPTA Foundation, formed in late 2007.
J. Javier Samper has a PhD degree in Computer Science Engineering and is Associate Professor
at the School of Engineering, carrying out his research at LISITT laboratory at the Institute of
Robotics and TIC (IRTIC). He has participated in over 30 EU and national R&D projects and
60 contracts and agreements with public administrations since 1996. Currently he is secretary and
founding partner of ESAM Technology Company Ltd., a spin-off of the University of Valencia
formed in late 2007. Furthermore, he is the president of EATIS.org and coordinates the Master in
Telecommunications Engineering in the Universitat de València (Spain).
Gerardo Herrera has a degree in Computer Science Engineering from the University of
Valladolid and holds a Master degree in Computer Science from the University of Valencia. He
founded the Autism Lab at IRTIC Institute (University of Valencia) in 1999 where he has
directed dozens of R&D projects on IT and ASD. He is currently a member of the Scientific
Advisory Board of DOCTRID Institute (Ireland), under the EU Funded ASSISTID research
programme. He has published a number of papers on IT for people at risk of exclusion, including
in high impact scientific journals.
Marcos Fernández is MSc in Physical Sciences and PhD in Computer Engineering from the
Universidad de Valencia. He is currently Professor in the Computer Science Department of the
Universidad de Valencia and coordinator of the ARTEC research group at the Institute of Robotics
and Information and Communication Technologies (IRTIC) of the same university. During the past
years, he has been working in the research areas of virtual and augmented reality, interactive
graphics and human-computer multimodal interactions. During the past 20 years he has been in
charge of coordinating the ARTEC research group, with more than 30 researchers in these lines.