Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1374931
OPINION 20.5.2021 Alexiei Dingli Prof Alexiei Dingli is a Professor of AI at the University of Malta and has been conducting research and working in the field of AI for more than two decades, assisting different companies to implement AI solutions. He forms part of the Malta.AI task-force, set up by the Maltese government, aimed at making Malta one of the top AI countries in the world J ust imagine having stiff muscles, uncontrollable movements, poor bal- ance or lack of coordination? It sounds scary, but this sums up what a child with Cerebral Palsy (CP) goes through daily. CP is a group of disorders, which affect movement. Data shows that out of every 400 births, at least one child is born with this disability. As a result of the disorder, the developing brain is damaged, which affects the child's ability to control the muscles of his body. Even though there are different CP symptoms, all those who suf- fer from it have problems with movement and posture. ose who experience mild CP may walk without requiring any help, but those on the other end may be unable to walk at all. Even though there is no cure for CP, treatment can signif- icantly improve the lives of these children. It might include medicine, surgery, braces, or even therapy, to name a few. Of course, it really depends on the condition of the child. In 2020, the University of Malta (UM), together with In- vent3D ltd and Humain ltd, launched the SMARTCLAP project, a smart user-cen- tred product-service system for evaluating and developing functional hand skills in chil- dren with Cerebral Palsy. e project led by Prof. Ing. Philip Farrugia, from the Department of Industrial and Manufactur- ing Engineering, UM, is funded by the Malta Council for Sci- ence and Technology (project reference R&I-2019-003-T). It makes use of User-Centred Design to understand the basic needs of these children. e overall goal is to create a rev- olutionary product that mon- itors the child's progress and personalised interaction. e product in question is taking the shape of a wearable device, whose primary func- tion is to capture the child's hand movement and relay them back to a computerised system. is information is then used during therapeutic activities used during a paediatric occu- pational therapy session. e role of the OT is to en- able children to participate in daily life at home, school, and within the community by de- veloping the skills needed to experience independence and life satisfaction. ese skills include everyday activities like playing, learning self-care, so- cialising and carrying out daily roles or routines. rough activity analysis, the OT can adapt such activities to support social, physical, cogni- tive and sensory-motor skills, including fine motor function and posture. By assisting chil- dren in repeating different functional movements, the child learns and consolidates other motor plans and patterns applied to daily tasks. Evidence-based research has shown that enjoyment is key to participation. It is no secret that very few children enjoy doing therapeutic exercis- es as most are not enjoyable! e SMARTCLAP project is unique because it offers a fun way of performing these cru- cial activities through a game. e game follows similar in- structions provided by the OT. But since it is a game made up of animated characters living in a colourful virtual world, children will be more receptive to playing it. e game con- trols are all handled through the device being developed as part of the project. Children use the movement of their hands or their fin- gers to control what's going on throughout the game. is approach helps children to have fun by interacting with the game through hand move- ments during play. Without knowing it, they are also indi- rectly doing therapy. e theory behind this ap- proach is generally referred to as gamification. Gamification is the application of game-de- sign elements and game prin- ciples in non-game contexts. In this case, it is used as part of therapy, but it can be used in any context in reality. Several studies have shown that gam- ification works, and in various cases, the performance of the individual increases drastically. Such approaches increase chil- dren's engagement by provid- ing incentives for them to pay attention and complete activi- ties. Rewards given throughout the game can encourage bet- ter listening and observation. When the child is focused, the likelihood of absorbing the in- formation presented and per- forming the required actions is increased. Another benefit of such an approach is that children can continue working on their therapy goals at home after the therapy session is complet- ed. All the child has to do is to put on the device and play the game. Of course, this project is still in its infancy, and there is still a long way to go. However, fol- lowing several focus groups held with children with cer- ebral palsy, their guardians, and other professionals, we are now in the process of shaping the final product. rough our work, we can make therapy fun. As a result, help children lead a more independent life, develop their ability to play, boost their confidence and improve their overall quality of life. e project team is composed of a mix of academics and ex- perts from various disciplines. Prof. Ing. Philip Farrugia, Mr Matthew Bonello and Mrs Nathalie Buhagiar pursue a user-centred design philos- ophy to develop the device. Prof. Ing. Simon Fabri, Dr Ing. Mario Farrugia and Dr Ing. Owen Casha are developing the hardware and software to capture motions. Whilst my- self and Ing. David Sciberras handle the gamification and 3D printing aspects, respectively. More project details about the project are available at www. smartclaproject.com Gamifying therapy