Communication products developed for people with medical conditions

Engineering students at the New York University Abu Dhabi develop innovative communication products to enhance relationships with people with medical conditions.

Diabetes is a common ailment among residents here and health experts attribute this to the sedentary lifestyle most people adopt. With the temperature soaring over 50 degrees in the summer, going out and exercising is not really a favourable option especially when you are on our own.

NYUAD freshmen at the Super Lab at the NYUAD’s Centre for Science and Engineering. — KT photo By Nezar Balout

But imagine being able to exercise in the comfort of your home, with a friend or an instructor cueing you from afar. Wouldn’t that motivate you to move and bend those limbs?

Your child has autism, and since he is unable to communicate his emotions in words, you are always worried when he would throw a fit. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get a warning that tells you when the meltdown is going to happen so you can prevent it in advance?

The solutions to these are exactly what the freshmen engineering students at the New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have created during their two-and-a-half week intensive course this month.

For this year’s programme, students at the Design and Innovation class at the NYUAD’s Centre for Science and Engineering, also known to students as the Super Lab, in Mussafah were tasked to develop innovative communication products to enhance relationships with people with medical conditions.

“Lots of research suggests that social support is often a very important feature in successful management of certain health conditions. And very often, relationship with people is a major contributor to quality of life and it really helps manage conditions too. If you have diabetes and if you have strong relationship with others that could provide you social support, you might be more encouraged to be physically active, and the same goes for cancer. If you share positive relationships with others, research said you may live longer,” Agamanolis, visiting associate professor from Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio, US, told Khaleej Times.

For type 2 diabetes, the four-member student team developed two Tai Chi jackets using conductive fabric with sensors that connect via Bluetooth to a smart phone. When connected, the person using the first jacket will send a signal of his or her specific movement to the other person with the second jacket in the form of a vibration, instructing the wearer to bend his or her elbow, for example.

“Tai Chi is one of the recommended exercises for diabetics because it is slow in motion,” explained Hind Altantawi, 18, from Jordan.

“With research, we realised that it’s really beneficial for type 2 diabetics as it lowers down blood sugar level… Basically our idea is to encourage and motivate exercise by developing the social bond between elderly people who have type 2 diabetes so they can work and exercise together. It has been scientifically proven that having strong social bonds improves one’s health condition,” Syrian national Hassan Nahas, 17, pointed out.

For autism, the team of students created a T-shirt prototype that measures the level of anxiety in children with autism through their sweat glands.

Speaking about the course structure, Agamanopolis said the use of digital media provides the platform to introduce students to electronics and some product design techniques.

“We want them to gain some basic skills with these engineering techniques but we want them also not to build something out of a vacuum, we want them to respond to a natural real problem in the world and come up with some creative solutions to improve their lives,” he said.

olivia@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE