Staff Reporter
Lahore
Gaining significant ground in his efforts towards creating awareness of learning and cognitive disabilities among young children through technological innovations, Dr. Suleman Shahid has been awarded a grant by the Mitsubishi Corporation.
Dr. Shahid is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Director of the Computer Human Interaction and Social Experience Lab (CHISEL) at Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE).
Dr. Shahid has done extensive research in assistive technologies (mobile apps and VR/AR systems) to enhance the quality of life of persons with disabilities (e.g. Autism, Dyslexia, visual impairment) and the elderly, educational technologies for children (child-computer interaction), and affective computing. When the Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) showed interest in supporting projects and research that would help build a more inclusive society, Dr. Shahid’s work was well aligned with their vision.
According to the proposal submitted by Dr. Shahid, lack of awareness in society when it comes to learning and cognitive disabilities will be tackled through various initiatives.
The first will be a mobile application that will have a system in place to help parents and caretakers identify signs of learning and cognitive disability in their children through a simple gamified format so that children and their families do not have to struggle years before they can get the support required.
Secondly, Dr. Shahid’s investigation found that one of the biggest challenges for people with cognitive disabilities is that they are not able to communicate effectively.
