Contatto: an interactive music-therapy system for autistic spectrum disorder and psychomotor disability

Magrini M., Tarabella L., Bertini G.

Music-therapy systems  Sound and Music Computing  Vision and Scene Understanding  Scene Analysis  Life and Medical Sciences 

In the context of Contatto project, commissioned by MousikEssere, the ISTI-CNR Signal and Images Lab developed an active music-therapy system for young patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The system uses a video camera, a FireWire digitalization board, and a Macintosh computer running custom software. During the therapy sessions, the patient moves his body freely inside an empty room. The software uses special algorithms to extrapolate features from the human figure, such us spatial position, arm and leg angles, and so forth. Via a graphic user interface, the medical operator can link these features to sounds synthesized in real time, according to the therapy schema. The system has very low latency thanks to Mac OS X native libraries (CoreImage, CoreAudio). The resulting augmented interaction with the environment could help improve young autistic patients' contact with reality. With a few minor variations and the use of additional sensors, the system could also treat other diseases, such as Alzheimer's.

Source: DSP Application Day 2009 e-Conference & Webinar, Milano, 21 settembre 2009