C. Stephanidis and M. Antona (Eds.): UAHCI/HCII 2013, Part II, LNCS 8010, pp. 253–258, 2013. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Using Pupil Size Variation during Visual Emotional Stimulation in Measuring Affective States of Non Communicative Individuals Dania Al-Omar 1 , Areej Al-Wabil 2 , and Manar Fawzi 2 1 College of Computer and Information Sciences, Al-Imam Mohammed Ibn Suad University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Dania.alomar@ccis.imamu.edu.sa 2 College of Computer and Information Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia {aalwabil,mifawzi}@ksu.edu.sa Abstract. In this paper we describe an exploratory experiment conducted in the early stages of the design and development of a screening program for non- communicative individuals. The system incorporates eye-tracking and biosensor technologies for objectively measuring affective states by combining measures of ElectroDermal Activity (EDA), temperature and eye gaze metrics of pupil dilation. The objective is to provide individuals with cognitive disabilities who experience difficulties in expressing their feelings with an alternate form of communicating their emotional states in clinical screening and occupational therapy sessions. The interactive computer-based screening program is comprised of stimuli-sets designed to elicit emotional response from viewers with a trend analysis component designed with an interface for health care providers. The focus of this paper is the feasibility of including pupil dilation as a measure reflecting affective states of individuals in the overall emotional intelligence screening system. Keywords: Multi-sensory interfaces, Autism, Eye Tracking. 1 Introduction Assistive technology has developed at a rapid pace in the areas of motor and sensory disabilities. While notable efforts have been made in supporting people with cognitive disabilities and social-verbal communication difficulties such as autism, it was not until recently that researchers explored ways of understanding and measuring human emotions of non-communicative individuals with physiological sensors [1]. Physiological measures such as pupil dilation and gaze metrics have been shown to be indicative of cognitive processing in both adults and children [2]. Recent studies have established novel methods for people to communicate affective-cognitive states through creation of innovative wearable sensors, remote tracking devices of motion and eye gaze such as those described in [3]. However, much of this research has examined isolated measures of emotional states using physiological sensors.