Autiverse: Eliciting Autistic Adolescents' Daily Narratives through AI-guided Multimodal Journaling

2025-09-22

AI Summary

Adolescents with autism often struggle with narrative expression in traditional text-based journaling due to high executive function demands and heavy reliance on linguistic proficiency. Method: This study designed and evaluated Autiverse, a multimodal AI-powered journaling application that integrates customizable peer-like conversational scaffolding with automatic four-panel comic generation. Supporting speech, image, and text input, Autiverse employs visual prompts to reduce cognitive load and foster a safe, autonomous narrative environment. Contribution/Results: A two-week user study demonstrated significant improvements in narrative coherence and emotional expressivity among participants; caregivers reported increased access to rich emotional information; and users exhibited high engagement and subjective enjoyment. This work pioneers the synergistic application of conversational AI and visual narrative generation for narrative intervention in neurodiverse populations, establishing a novel design paradigm for assistive technologies tailored to executive function variability.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: AI for Accessibility
• Intelligent Robots: Multimodal Perception & Sensor Fusion
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science

Application Category

• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Assisted, interactive, and conversational search
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics for personalization
• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy

Abstract

Journaling can potentially serve as an effective method for autistic adolescents to improve narrative skills. However, its text-centric nature and high executive functioning demands present barriers to practice. We present Autiverse, an AI-guided multimodal journaling app for tablets that scaffolds storytelling through conversational prompts and visual supports. Autiverse elicits key details through a stepwise dialogue with peer-like, customizable AI and composes them into an editable four-panel comic strip. Through a two-week deployment study with 10 autistic adolescent-parent dyads, we examine how Autiverse supports autistic adolescents to organize their daily experience and emotion. Autiverse helped them construct coherent narratives, while enabling parents to learn additional details of their child's events and emotions. The customized AI peer created a comfortable space for sharing, fostering enjoyment and a strong sense of agency. We discuss the implications of designing technologies that complement autistic adolescents' strengths while ensuring their autonomy and safety in sharing experiences.

Problem

• Addresses text-centric barriers in journaling for autistic adolescents
• Reduces executive functioning demands through AI-guided multimodal support
• Enhances narrative skills and emotional expression via customizable AI interaction

Innovation

• AI-guided multimodal journaling app
• Stepwise dialogue with customizable AI peer
• Editable four-panel comic strip output