What is Niu Program and how does it research emotional support for children in public spaces?

Niu Program is yeshcube’s research and development line for emotional support for children and families. It studies how voice and sound experiences at home can work alongside calm booths in public spaces to provide support before, during and after moments of overload.

The solution being developed within the program is called Somia Niu. Its model combines everyday practice, family participation and access to a lower-stimulation environment where overwhelm may occur. The research seeks to determine which children, contexts and situations may benefit, which safeguards are required and how to measure its contribution without turning a technological hypothesis into a clinical promise.

One program across home, family and public space

Niu starts from a straightforward idea: emotional regulation is practiced over time, while the need for a quieter place may arise suddenly and away from home.

Somia Niu is designed around three connected settings:

1. Everyday experiences at home. An application and screen-free audio experiences use stories, sound and voice conversation to practice emotional recognition and regulation strategies.
2. Support for families. Responsible adults take part in use, receive context about the experiences and help transfer what is practiced to real situations.
3. Calm booths in public spaces. Lower-stimulation environments offer a brief experience when noise, lighting, crowds or unpredictability become overwhelming.

The booth is the most visible component, but it is not intended to operate as an isolated solution. The program studies the relationship between ongoing practice, adult support and help available in the environment.

Why the sensory environment matters

A child’s response to their surroundings depends on their profile, the moment and the intensity of the stimuli. Noise, light, limited personal space or an unexpected change can increase distress and make communication or self-regulation harder.

NICE guidance on support for autistic children and young people includes the physical environment — such as lighting and noise levels — among the factors to assess when behavior communicates distress. This relationship is particularly relevant for some neurodivergent children, although Niu neither assumes that every child responds in the same way nor limits its research to a single diagnosis.

Studies of multisensory environments offer promising but context-dependent findings. Research involving 41 autistic children observed differences when they could control sensory changes in the space, highlighting the importance of choice and autonomy (Unwin et al., 2022). In another randomized trial of an adaptive sensory environment, the primary anxiety outcome did not differ significantly between groups, although changes appeared within the intervention group (Antosh et al., 2024).

This evidence supports adapting the environment while preventing the assumption that a booth will produce the same effect for every child or situation. Niu Program exists to evaluate that specific application.

What Niu Program researches

The program organizes its work around four questions:

What experience to offer, and when

Sound, music, narration and conversation do not serve the same purpose. Niu studies which mode is understandable and tolerable at different ages and levels of participation, how long it should last and when silence or ending the experience is preferable.

How to preserve the child’s autonomy

The design must allow children to participate, choose or remain silent. Research examines simple controls, clear exits and experiences that do not require a child to explain their distress or pass a test before they can finish.

How to involve the responsible adult

Access to the booth and home use are designed around adult supervision. The program must define what information families need, how consent is obtained, when a session should stop and which situations require professional or emergency support.

What results justify progress

Validation must measure safety, comprehension, usability, acceptance and perceived usefulness for children and families. It must also test the booth’s operation and document incidents and withdrawals. Variables and instruments will be defined for each pilot, age group and setting.

Voice and artificial intelligence with a defined function

Somia provides the conversational and sound architecture on which Niu’s experiences are built.

The interaction can respond to a child’s words within a defined script and boundaries. The system does not automatically infer emotional state from tone of voice, diagnose or assess whether the child has regulated. When verbal participation is unsuitable, the experience can rely on sound, narration, pauses or simple controls.

This boundary supports a more predictable and auditable technology. Artificial intelligence sustains the experience; supervision, care decisions and interpretation of context remain with responsible adults and professionals.

Safeguards for technology intended for children

Validation of Somia Niu must incorporate from the outset:

• Adult-supervised access and exit.
• Consent and assent appropriate to age and context.
• Data minimisation and no unnecessary identification.
• Interruption and response protocols for distress or risk.
• Testing differentiated by age, sensory profile and communication ability.
• Ethical review and participation by families, professionals and children’s organizations.
• Physical, sensory and cognitive accessibility of the booth and experience.

Somia Niu is being developed as a wellbeing and everyday support technology. It does not replace health, psychological, educational or social care, and the booth is not intended as an emergency resource.

Current status of Niu Program

In 2026 Niu Program is in initial development and validation. Current work is defining the service model, experiences, usage protocols and partnerships required for controlled testing.

Somia Niu was selected among the ten finalists in DKV Impacta, DKV Seguros’ social innovation in health program, and joined an acceleration process supported by Impact Hub Barcelona.

The selection brings external challenge, mentoring and work on impact measurement. It recognizes the project’s potential and its relevance to children, mental health and social innovation; it is not evidence of effectiveness.

Research open to collaboration

Niu Program is seeking research groups working in child development, occupational therapy, sensory integration, neurodiversity, voice interaction and evaluation of technology for minors. It also needs educational, healthcare and social organizations, and public-space operators, able to contribute to design or host supervised pilots.

Transfer of Somia Niu will depend on interpretable results, independent review and safeguards appropriate to each setting. The program turns those requirements into a roadmap for developing a useful and responsible solution with the people who understand children and their real contexts.

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