Technologies for enhancing human abilities and capacities.
Technology Assisted Therapy and Training
The “Technology Assisted Therapy and Training (AT3)” of LENI, investigates the use of certain technologies that have the potential to improve human abilities. Technology has moved away from merely making our lives more convenient, and now it has the potential to change every aspect of what we are as humans. Technology Assisted Therapy and Training (AT3) are techniques that can be used not simply for treating illness and disability, but also for enhancing human characteristics and capacities. AT3 refers to the convergent application of techniques such as information technologies and cognitive neuroscience, among others, to improve human capabilities.
Areas
Immersive Technologies-Assisted Psychology
This unit investigates the use of innovative ICT solutions applied to mental health. This research field known as Immersive Technologies-Assisted Psychology (ITAP) can be defined as any computing system that aids mental health professionals (MHP) to provide diagnoses and treatments but limited to those systems that use input patient as a variable used by the computing systems to make treatment decisions. Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy (VRET), is defined as the use of virtual reality techniques to enhance exposure treatments in psychotherapy providing a very useful intermediate step between the therapist’s office and the real world.
Autism
Our research area deepens the application of Emerging Technologies within the so-called Neurodevelopmental Disorders, whether it is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the objective is to implement Immersive Virtual Environments ( EVI) o Multitouch technologies that, together with physiological measurement devices (Eye Tracking, Electrodermal Activity, Movement …), can provide specialized professionals with quantitative support for the evaluations carried out at present.
Neuroleadership and neuromanagement
The great advances of the neurosciences allow the direct observation of the cerebral reactions at the moment in which they take place in an inexpensive way; The objective of neuromanagement is focused on the optimization of the functioning of brain processes to work faster, with less risk of errors and avoiding that an inadequate handling of emotions affects the executive functions of the brain, in the same way guidelines for discover those competences directly linked to leadership and innovation (neurolide leadership), crucial aspects to open up new markets, encourage creative and critical thinking and adapt leadership to the increasingly complex needs of an organization.
On the other hand, we must clarify that virtual reality environments are increasingly being used by neuroscientists to simulate natural phenomena and social interactions. VR creates interactive sensory stimuli, which offer unique advantages over other approaches to neuroscientific research and its applications.
Industrial Simulation
This area investigates the use of virtual reality techniques for the development of industrial simulators. The general objective is to make available to companies, mainly SMEs, multimedia training tools with simulation support, in Prevention of Occupational Risks, aimed at entrepreneurs, managers, middle managers, preventive resources and self-employed workers.
This area investigates the use of virtual reality techniques for the development of industrial simulators.
Presence in virtual environment
Presence research is an emerging research area that tries to find what are the mechanisms involved in the subjective perception occurring when though part or all of an individual’s current experience is generated by and/or filtered through human-made technology (like VR), part or all of the individual’s perception fails to accurately acknowledge the role of the technology in the experience. Following this definition, presence research is a key element for the study of the usefulness of virtual environments.
Surgery Simulation
The objective of this area is to investigate the use of virtual reality techniques to develop virtual patients that are used in surgical training. This requires, among other things, the development of algorithms for real-time simulation of human tissue deformations and the development of surgical simulators.
