MAMEM

 

Consortium

 

Greece
The Centre for Research & Technology Hellas is the project coordinator responsible for the administrative, financial and technical management of the project. Its main responsibilities include, translating into meaningful control the EEG-signals captured from the brain of people with disabilities. Moreover, CERTH-ITI is also responsible for the dissemination and exploitation activities of the project with an overarching goal to foster innovation among its members.
Germany
University of Koblenz – Landau, WeST Institute is leading the WP3 and contributes primarily its eye tracking expertise and competence in human-computer interaction.
Italy
EB Neuro S.p.A (EBN) is leading WP2 –“Sensor configuration and signal capturing” with the aim to ensure that the signals delivered to WP3 for translation into meaningful control are properly calibrated and free of any biological or environmental noise. EBN will safeguard that the signal captured in WP2 will be appropriate for the navigation control of a software application. Finally, EBN will significantly contribute in fostering the innovation potential of the technologies developed in MAMEM based on its marketing department.
Germany
As a developer and supplier of eye tracking hardware and software solutions, SensoMotoric Instruments GmbH (SMI) will lead WP4 on combining MAMEM’s sensors and algorithms under a unified re-usable framework. SMI will also actively contribute in optimizing the eye-tracking equipment to the particularities of the cases addressed in MAMEM, as well as on improving the accuracy of gaze-based interaction combined with bio-input.
The Netherlands
Eindhoven University of Technology (TUe) will lead WP5 and based on its large expertise on user modelling and persuasive technology (together with specialists on the specific user group) will describe user models, & persuasive design principles most effectively. This will include coordinating research activities, partly by participants in this WP (Ukob, AUTH) on the effectiveness of prototypes employing these principles, and supervising the actual field tests and lab experiments.
Greece
In MAMEM, Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Hellas will be responsible for the coordination of the pilot studies related to people with neuromuscular disease. The heaviest incidents will be selected to participate in the pilot studies following the protocol defined in WP6. Moreover, MDA Hellas will also lead the work package related to monitoring any changes in the level of the patient’s social inclusion as a result of using MAMEM’s technology.
Greece
In MAMEM, the 3rd Department of Neurology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki will recruit Parkinson’s disease patients that fulfill the inclusion criteria to be involved in the project. Moreover, it will be responsible for the clinical evaluation of motor and cognitive function of the patients. Patients will be assessed by means of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the Unified Dyskinesia Rating Scale (UDysRS), the Hoehn &Yahr Stage, the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale and the 39-item Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire.
Israel
The Medical Research Infrastructure Development & Health Services Fund by the Sheba Medical Center (SMC) – (SHEBA), under CATR, will be the scientific coordinator of the ‘clinical’ work package (WP6) of the project. During the development process of MAMEM the SHEBA staff will provide clinical input from expert health professionals as well as technical input regarding the integration of external sensors of MAMEM to subjects with high spinal cord injury. Thus, SHEBA will be in charge for carrying-out the usability & validation clinical studies and coordinate them between all clinical centers.

 

The Project

 

MAMEM’s overarching goal is to integrate people with disabilities back into society by endowing them with the critical skill of managing and authoring multimedia content using novel and more natural interface channels. These channels will be controlled by eye-movements and mental commands, significantly increasing the potential for communication and exchange in leisure (e.g. social networks) and non-leisure context (e.g. workplace).

Its cardinal objective is to facilitate the development of brain-computer interfaces that will lie between the disabled and the conventional interface of a software application dealing with multimedia content. These interfaces will be operated with an eye tracker, an Electroencephalography (EEG) recorder and additional bio-sensors (e.g., heart rate, galvanic skin response).

 

Publications