FAQs

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly about any questions or concerns regarding our study. We can be contacted at

ui-kic@illinois.edu   or   217-244-2945

Study Participation (11)

The parent-child virtual visit takes approximately 40 minutes. Following your visit, we ask that your family utilize LittleBeats™ for 2 full days.

In appreciation of your time, your family will receive a $100 gift card for completion of the study and your child will receive a small gift. Additionally, parents and children tend to enjoy participating in research of this kind. It gives parents an opportunity to play with their child and learn more about their child’s development.

LittleBeats™ is for research purposes only and therefore is not FDA-approved. LittleBeats™ should not be used for medical diagnoses.

LittleBeats™ will be attached to your child by placing three gel stickers on the skin near the neck and lower ribs. LittleBeats™ is very safe, does not interfere with movement, and does not require any invasive procedures beyond the gel stickers being stuck to the skin. They also peel off easily!

 


All information from your participation will be kept strictly confidential. Data are stored securely in locked cabinets and password protected files and are made available only to the project staff. All your information will be marked by identification numbers only and data will be examined using machine learning algorithms.


Of course! We aim to learn about children’s development in their natural environments, including the interactions they have with parents and siblings. We encourage you to speak with your family members about the study before signing up for participation.  Any adults in the home will be asked to sign a consent form before beginning recording.

The goal of our study is to capture children in everyday contexts. We would be happy to have your child wear LittleBeats™ during nap time. However, we remind you that you are free to remove LittleBeats™ at any time and ask that your child only wear LittleBeats™ at times that you are comfortable with them wearing the device.

We encourage you to use LittleBeats™ while going about your regular routines, but remind you that you are free to power off or take off LittleBeats™ at any time.

Your family’s privacy is our number one priority. Data will be processed using a machine learning algorithm, though project staff will periodically spot-check files for short periods of time (i.e., 30-second intervals).

 


The data collected by LittleBeats™ will be processed by a machine learning algorithm. A machine learning algorithm allows computers to do all of the work of taking input data and outputting results, which in turn, keeps your data more protected and private from human research staff.

If your child is interested in learning more about how this process works, we suggest reading an introductory article to machine learning!

https://towardsdatascience.com/childrens-guide-to-machine-learning-b90171f86cef

 


Your family’s privacy is our number one priority! If you would like your audio data to be permanently deleted, please contact our study coordinator.

For this study we will not be looking at individual results; rather, we will be evaluating at a group level. If you are interested in staying up-to-date with our publications, please send us a message to ui-kic@illinois.edu to be added to our mailing list.

About LittleBeats™ (2)

LittleBeats™ simultaneously collects motion, heart rate, and audio data.

LittleBeats™ is for research purposes only and therefore is not FDA-approved. LittleBeats™ should not be used for medical diagnoses.

LittleBeats™ will be attached to your child by placing three gel stickers on the skin near the neck and lower ribs. LittleBeats™ is very safe, does not interfere with movement, and does not require any invasive procedures beyond the gel stickers being stuck to the skin. They also peel off easily!

 


For Researchers (3)

LittleBeats™ simultaneously collects motion, heart rate, and audio data.

LittleBeats™ is designed to be used in natural settings (e.g, the home, playgrounds, etc.) with minimal interruptions and where researchers are not present.

Further, LittleBeats™ collects three streams of data: heart rate, motion, and audio.


LittleBeats™ is placed inside of a specially designed shirt pocket on the front of the shirt. In order to collect heart rate data, three ECG leads and stickers are placed on the chest and lower ribs.

Both adult and child participants have noted that after setting LittleBeats™ up, they feel comfortable going about their day, and often times forget LittleBeats™ is there!