Open Access. © 2020 A. Singh and S. Dewan, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License Open Comput. Sci. 2020; 10:259ś269 Research Article Akansha Singh* and Surbhi Dewan AutisMitr: Emotion Recognition Assistive Tool for Autistic Children https://doi.org/10.1515/comp-2020-0006 Received Sep 26, 2019; accepted Dec 05, 2019 Abstract: Assistive technology has proven to be one of the most signifcant inventions to aid people with Autism to improve the quality of their lives. In this study, a real-time emotion recognition system for autistic children has been developed. Emotion recognition is implemented by execut- ing three stages: Face identifcation, Facial Feature extrac- tion, and feature classifcation. The objective is to frame a system that includes all three stages of emotion recogni- tion activity that executes expeditiously in real time. Thus, Afectiva SDK is implemented in the application. The pro- pound system detects at most 7 facial emotions: anger, dis- gust, fear, joy, sadness, contempt, and surprise. The pur- pose for performing this study is to teach emotions to indi- viduals sufering from autism, as they lack the ability to re- spond appropriately to others emotions. The proposed ap- plication was tested with a group of typical children aged 6ś14 years, and positive outcomes were achieved. Keywords: Autism, Emotion recognition, assistive, facial 1 Introduction 1.1 Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism spectrum disorder is a neurological disorder that afects communication and behavioural skills. It was ini- tially discovered by Kanner in 1943 [1], nevertheless cur- rent understanding of ASD has advanced immensely in terms of diagnosis and treatment. Autism can manifest at any age; however, it is known as a developmental syn- drome, with the frst indications manifesting in early years of a child’s life. According to DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statis- tical Manual of Mental Disorders) [2], a person with autism lacks efciency in behavioural, social and communication *Corresponding Author: Akansha Singh: Department of Com- puter Science & Engineering, ASET, Amity University, Noida, India; Email: akanshasing@gmail.com Surbhi Dewan: The NorthCap University, Gurgaon, India skills. They display constant behaviour and show no inter- est in communicating with unfamiliar people. Autism is a disorder that has an extensive variation depending upon an individual’s symptoms. It may vary from a mild to a severe disorder, hence the word łSpectrumž is included in the name of the disorder [3]. An autistic person with high severity of their disorder is mostly non-verbal or has speech difculty. They often have difculty interpreting their mental state and expressing themselves to others. Therefore, a person with Autism has difculties perform- ing their daily life activities. Though it is a lifetime disabil- ity, therapies and assistance can enhance a person’s capac- ity to perform some tasks appropriately. Some of the people with autism may present with trou- ble sleeping and irritating behaviour. Despite the fact that a person with autism faces many difculties, they might be highly talented in other aspects, such as the ability to learn quickly and remember particular information for a long time, the ability to solve complex mathematical problems, they may present above-average audio-visual learning ability, excellent music and art skills. Although researchers don’t know the exact cause of ASD, they pro- pound that one of the reasons for the disorder can be ge- netic preconditions. It has been suggested that people with other genetic brain disorders, such as the Rett syndrome and the Down syndrome, or with learning disabilities have a higher chance of also having ASD. Identifying ASD in children is easier than diagnosing ASD in adults, as certain traits in adults may coincide with characteristics such as intellectual disorders, e.g., Atten- tion Defcit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Therapy for such disorders must be undertaken as early as possible to minimize a person’s problems, meanwhile helping them to improve their skills to perform day-to-day activities. How- ever, the major problem is that it is difcult to decide which therapy would be best for a particular disorder. Thus, it is necessary to consult a doctor or health professional to identify the correct treatment plan [3]. Therefore, difculty in efective communication, emo- tion recognition and social interaction are generally con- sidered as a signifcant trait of individuals with ASD. All individuals with ASD experience difculty in one of the