title: Inertial-magnetic sensors for assessing spatial cognition in infants.
abstract: This letter describes a novel approach to the assessment of spatial cognition in children. In particular, we present a wireless instrumented toy embedding magneto-inertial sensors for orientation tracking, specifically developed to assess the ability to insert objects into holes. To be used in naturalistic environments (e.g., day cares), we also describe an in-field calibration procedure based on a sequence of manual rotations, not relying on accurate motions or sophisticated equipment. The final accuracy of the proposed system, after the mentioned calibration procedure, is derived by direct comparison with a gold-standard motion tracking device. In particular, both systems are subjected to a sequence of ten single-axis rotations (approximately 90°, back and forth), about three different axes. The rms of the angular error between the two measurements (gold-standard versus proposed systems) was evaluated for each trial. In particular, the average rms error is under 2°. This study indicates that a technological approach to ecological assessment of spatial cognition in infants is indeed feasible. As a consequence, prevention through screening of large number of infants is at reach.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798. d.campolo@ntu.edu.sg
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Campolo
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Taffoni
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Formica
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schiavone
authors.forename: Flavio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guglielmelli
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007223:Infant; D008280:Magnetics; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D010988:Play and Playthings; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*