December 24, 2014
Cell phone industry becomes better and better and now some of its advantages can help also people with needs. It is the case of the kids who have autism and need special support to interact with others. For them and their parents, the ‘Look At Me’ application for Android can be a real blessing considering its properties. It was developed and launched by Samsung and its aim is to fight against this horrible disease.
It ensures better eye contact
How does it work and what does it do? Well quite some many things! Most important, the inventors of this application claim that it has great chances to help kids with autism to maintain better eye contact with people around them, because it is known that this is one fact at which people with this disease have many difficulties. Also this application is part of a bigger project seeking to develop the world’s largest database of sequenced genomic information from people with autism spectrum disorder and their families, which will be stored on Google Cloud Platform and made accessible to scientists for use in their research.
Treatments are very expensive
MSSING, which is the name of this project was previously known as The Autism Speaks Ten Thousand Genomes Program. ‘Look At Me’ looks like a noble idea and invention because it comes in the help of people with a disease which is not treated yet with maximum responsibility that’s because it isn’t too well understood. Besides, treatments for autism can be prohibitive for average people so this application may be a way in bringing a spot of light in their life.
The results are promising
Available now in Google Play, ‘Look At Me’ was developed by specialists from two important institutes from South Korea, Seoul National University Hospital and Yonsei University Department of Psychology and uses photos, facial recognition technology and, of course, some games that help children with autism reading emotions. Also, the producers made an experiment with 20 sick kids during eight weeks and after stated that 60 percent of them make now better eye contact.