Our smartphone camera apps helps us take photos, and in the case of more advanced apps, it gives us manual controls by allowing us to tweak its settings like exposure, shutter speed, ISO, and so on. However it seems that camera apps could potentially have other uses that we might not have thought of, like helping autistic kids overcome social anxiety.
Samsung has recently come up with an app called “Look At Me”. This is an app designed by Samsung which they claim will help autistic kids overcome their social anxiety and have better eye contact and relations with those around them. Basically the app will be an interactive and playful one that lets its user, the autistic child, get more out of it than they would from a regular app.
According to Samsung, “Millions of children struggles to make eye contact due to autism. There has been no scientifically-endorsed treatment. Till now. Introducing the world’s first interactive camera app Look At Me, a program to improve eye contact and social skills.” The company has claimed that based on a survey, around 60% of children who tried the app have shown signs of improvement in the making of eye contact.
The Look At Me app will be installed on 200 Galaxy Tab S devices which users can try and get one for themselves by signing up at Samsung’s website. The app is also expected to make its way to the Google Play Store at a later date, although when exactly remains to be seen. In the meantime you can check out the app in action in the video above.