Associate Professor John Alexander Moreno He is the second researcher from the University of Montreal to receive a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada's Discovery Horizon program, after Joshua Bengio. Only 15 applications were funded this year across Canada.
His project, Using Social Robots and Virtual Reality to Support Older People, received US$250,000 in funding and is distinguished by its respect for the values of equality, diversity and inclusion for both research team members and participants. This interdisciplinary research is conducted in partnership with Bristol Robotics Laboratoryin the United Kingdom, one of the largest robotics laboratories in Europe, and Virtual Reality Research Center in the field of mental health and neurosciencein the Czech Republic, is recognized for the application of virtual reality in mental health care.
John Alexander Moreno and his team pursue two main goals: designing social robots for home support for elderly people and their loved ones, and developing virtual reality technologies for palliative care.
The implementation of social robots aims to help the elderly at home by primarily providing them with social support. By engaging in conversation and maintaining connections with loved ones, these robots' mission is to reduce the physical, mental and financial burden associated with providing assistance to older adults.
The section dedicated to VR focuses on the mental well-being of patients in palliative and end-of-life care units, who are often bedridden in hospital for a long period. This immersive technology allows people at the end of their lives to escape and explore the landscape, providing them with a form of meditative rest.
