Development of innovative methods for measuring and promoting social and emotional skills in early and middle childhood

Funder: Aktion Österreich-Ungarn (AÖU)

Children spend large parts of their daily lives in groups of peers, where they need to develop social competence and emotional management skills. To date, it remains a significant methodological challenge to objectively assess children’s social and emotional skills. With today’s advances in smart sensor technology, however, wireless sensors that track distance to other sensors, activity levels, and physiology (e.g., electrodermal activity) have become so small and light that they can be easily worn without disturbing the participant. The goal of this project was to use innovative smart sensor technology to measure social and emotional competences. The project allowed us to establish a valuable research collaboration through research stays for the student researchers, workshops, and training sessions with the Obimon CALM THE WAVES program. Moreover, it allowed the Hungarian team of hardware and software developers from Obimon Systems Kft. to test, troubleshoot, and improve their products.