Objective 1: Advances in Human-Computer interaction methodologies
This first part of the project consists in studying and defining a profile based on the user pathologies and
case scenarios, as well as, developing the technical platforms for the final phase of the project. This
encompasses the development of input (speech, silent speech, gesture, tactile/haptic devices) and output
(animated characters, pictograms and personalized synthetic voices) communication modalities and
essential modules of the platform such as the management of these modalities and user authentication.
The country diversity found in the consortium will allow us to provide language support for Portuguese,
Spanish, Catalan, English and Turkish.
Objective 2: Moving to real world scenarios
In objective 2, we first need to establish a framework for an objective evaluation of the previously
developed work. This evaluation will be based on biological and psychophysical measures such as
Electromyography (EMG), Electro-dermal Activity (EDA), eye tracking, optical brain imaging (fNIR), etc.
Usability evaluation will be a continuous process along the entire project in order to guide development
and assess user performance using the proposed systems in virtual and real world situations.
The involved organizations are:
MSFT – Software para microcomputadores LDA, Portugal (Coordinator)
Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain
Universidade de Aveiro, Potugal
Wondertalent LDA, Portugal
Middle East Technical University, Turkey
The overall goal of IRIS is to provide a natural interaction communication platform accessible and adapted for all users, particularly for people with speech impairments and elderly in indoor scenarios.
Human-Computer interaction with this platform will adopt the principles of universal design and natural user interfaces such as speech, silent speech, gestures, tactile and haptic devices, pictograms, animated characters and personalized synthetic voices. The platform will provide a set of services that allow easy access to social networks, friends and remote family members, fighting social-exclusion of people with special needs or impairments. Application of these features will be performed in the context of serious games, virtual reality environments and assisted living scenarios. We will also explore the use of personalized avatars (that resemble with the user) in asynchronous human-human and human-machine communications, in situations where the user has lost his/her voice and in scenarios where it is not possible to have a video signal transmission due to low bandwidth or privacy reasons. Biometrics will complement the platform, in the sense that authentication and authorization are fundamental aspects for assuring access security to personal information in a natural way.