Embedded Sensing and Computing (ESC) Group

EarlySee: AI-Powered Sensing for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Project Overview

EarlySee illustration of a parent and young child with a smartphone

Early identification and ongoing support can make a meaningful difference for autistic children and their families, yet screening still depends largely on subjective observation during routine well-child visits. EarlySee, launched in 2014, develops accessible technologies for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The project began with smartphone-based screening that analyzes children's gaze and facial expressions while they view social scenes, and an Android research version of the EarlySee app was released in 2018. Current work, in collaboration with the NorthStar Special Needs Society in Canada, extends to sport-based intervention, studying real-world sport programs for autistic children and the relationship between motor coordination and behavior.

The 2018 EarlySee Android app is no longer available on Google Play; its privacy policy remains available for reference.

ESC Group Team

Professor
Wenyao Xu
Former ESC members
Chen Song; Matthew Stafford; Kun Woo Cho; Tri Vu

Collaborators

  • NorthStar Special Needs Society — Community partner for sport-based support of autistic children, Canada
  • Feng Lin — Research collaboration beginning in 2015
  • Sennotech Group — Industry collaboration beginning in 2017; co-developer of the app described in the 2018 launch announcement

Former collaborators

  • Michelle Hartley-McAndrew — Women and Children Hospital of Buffalo, 2014–2017
  • Kathy Doody — Buffalo State University, 2014–2017

Publications

  1. A Real-World Study of Sport-Based Support for Autism Spectrum Disorder.International Workshop on Human-Centered Sensing, Modeling, and Intelligent Systems (HumanSys), Austin, TX, October 2026 (forthcoming). [BibTeX]Henry Yang, Emily Liu, Xiaoyu Zhang, Wei Bo, Yutong Wu, Yike Liu, Qun Xie, Wenyao Xu.
  2. Correlation Between Motor Coordination and Behavior in Children with Autism: A Cross-Sectional Study.International Conference on Intelligent Biology and Medicine (ICIBM), Future Scientist Session presentation, Buffalo, NY, August 2026. Mentors: Xiaoyu Zhang and Wenyao Xu. [BibTeX]Henry Yang, Emily Liu.
  3. The Ice Rink as a Physics Laboratory: Biomechanical Insights into Embodied Learning for Neurodiverse Populations.AAPT Summer Meeting, Pasadena, CA, July 2026. [BibTeX]Wei Bo, Mingyu Guo, Yike Liu, Xiaoyu Zhang, Jingtong Jiang, Qun Xie, Ying Cao, Wenyao Xu.
  4. Effective and Efficient Visual Stimuli Design for Quantitative Autism Screening: An Exploratory Study.IEEE International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI), Orlando, FL, February 2017. [PDF] [BibTeX]Tri Vu, Hoan Tran, Kun Woo Cho, Chen Song, Feng Lin, Chang Wen Chen, Michelle Hartley-McAndrew, Kathy Ralabate Doody, Wenyao Xu.
  5. Gaze-Wasserstein: A Quantitative Screening Approach to Autism Spectrum Disorders.IEEE Annual Wireless Health Conference (WH), Bethesda, MD, October 2016. [PDF] [BibTeX]Kun Woo Cho, Feng Lin, Chen Song, Xiaowei Xu, Michelle Hartley-McAndrew, Kathy Ralabate Doody, Wenyao Xu.
  6. A Comparative Study of Social Scene Parsing Strategies between Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder.North American Journal of Medicine and Science (NAJMS), 9(3), 96–103, July 2016. [PDF] [BibTeX]Chen Song, Aosen Wang, Kathy Ralabate Doody, Michelle Hartley-McAndrew, Jana Mertz, Feng Lin, Wenyao Xu.
  7. Analyzing Dynamic Components of Social Scene Parsing Strategy in Autism Spectrum Disorder.IEEE International Conference on Biomedical and Health Informatics (BHI), Las Vegas, NV, February 2016. [PDF] [BibTeX]Chen Song, Aosen Wang, Kathy Doody, Michelle Hartley-McAndrew, Jana Mertz, Feng Lin, Wenyao Xu.

View all publications