"La Caixa" has decided to allocate 39,850 euros to the AutonoMe project, led by Ave Maria Foundation of Sitges in collaboration with the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Robotics Institute Unit. This project aims to understand the emotions and the attention span of people with intellectual disabilities when they are presented an activity. The ultimate goal is to collect objective data to clinically validate the software to be used as a therapeutic tool.

During the official presentation of the project, which took place yesterday afternoon in Sitges, Mr. Antonio Reverter, Manager of the Ave Maria Foundation, Mr. Joan Oliver, Research Manager of the Robotics Institute Unit, and Dr. Marta Subirà, a psychiatrist and researcher at IDIBELL, explained its different sides. Subirà stressed the importance of the technology transfer the AutonoMe project is actually allowing, which is something that fits perfectly with the IDIBELL’s vision in innovation and business development.

Within the AutonoMe project, IDIBELL will carry out the clinical validation of the system as a therapeutic tool used to objectively recognize emotions and attention span in front of an activity in people with ID. This system will be built using several existing sensors, tools already used for cognitive stimulation and the development of software that integrates this information.

The Ave Maria Foundation believes that the AutonoMe project may be able to unveil the emotions of its users. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate new technical means to help during daily activities, such as a facial recognition system, hardware capable of reading brain neuroplasticity, eye-tracking or skin response sensors; all of this will be possible thanks to the knowledge and cooperation of the Robotics Institute Unit.

The financial contribution received corresponds to the first 2016 call for Projects of Social Initiatives Aid Program, promoted annually by "la Caixa". This year, over 17 million euros will be invested into eight different calls. The program aims to provide opportunities for social groups in vulnerability situations.

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