Software engineer Diego Arize has joined CoPAN!

Diego Arize, a Senior Unity Game Developer and Software Engineer, has joined the lab to working on an exciting new project. This project aims to develop a virtual emotion training tool using machine-learning, emotion recognition and heart rate. As human’s capacity to express, recognize and share emotions enables them to navigate their social worlds, it is therefore a core component of what it means to be socially competent and healthy. The focus on research thus far has been on explicit, acted and prototypical expressions, which are rarely seen in daily life. Therefore, a training tool that individuals can use to enhance their skills, needs to be based on real life emotions.
The aim of this project is to develop an interactive training tool for a broad group of users, including people with autism. They could benefit from online help as a first step to practicing social skills in a safe home environment, without the presence of others, at their own pace.