SIGHT Project: “Inclusive Multi-Sensor Platform for Autistic Kids that Encourages Social Interaction” Kick off Meeting

On Saturday 11th January the project kick-off meeting took place in Stepping Stones Play & Learn Group Nursery in Colchester.  From Stepping Stones Sue Townsend and Donna McWilliams attended and hosted the meeting.  From IEEE – SIGHT Paulina Rangel, Mona Ghassemian and Eduardo Audiche were present. Three special guests from University of Essex; Paul Hibbard (Professor of Psychology), Caterina Cinel (Research Fellow in cognitive science) and Vito De Feo (Senior Researcher in Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence, Biomedical Engineering, and Neuroelectronics).

Sue and Dona showed the Stepping Stones’ premises and gave the group a brief summary about what the Nursery does, their activities and the impact this institution has had in the community.  They also explained their first impression using the equipment since its installation on 20th December 2019.

After the tour, attendees took turns to introduce themselves. Mona gave a brief summary about IEEE, its role in the technology and its mission. Then she explained what a SIGHT project is, how it works and the initial four priority areas for UK and Ireland.

It was discussed how the project results will be measured and the potential guidance and collaboration from the University of Essex. It was agreed to hold a follow-up meeting at the University of Essex before the end of January 2020.

After discussing the training session due to take place on 19th February, there was a demonstration of the equipment using a number of different apps.