The ABF MIT Challenges workshop has held in Cambridge, MA on December 5-6 2013 The material of the ws can be dowloaded at http://www.abfmit2013.com/

1. “Promoting research for the benefit of humankind”
www.andreabocellifoundation.org
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2. Thursday, December 5th
Opening and Social Gathering
Seth Teller
CSAIL, MIT
5/12/2013
Laura Biancalani Laura Giarré
ABF President
ABF Advisory Board
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3. Outline
•Laura Biancalani (ABF foundation)
La ABF Vision, ABF Mission, ABF Values, What we do, Workshops
• Laura Giarré (ABF Advisory board)
ABF commitment ABFChallenge Program, Aims of the workshop
•Seth Teller (MIT)
The Fifth Sense Program
•Speakers will introduce their names and their
research topic
•Discussion
•Closing and Dinner
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4. ABF Vision
“I strongly believe that love does justice.
And that we are called by our faith in love and justice to
build a better world.
Since love energizes faith, the opposite must also be
true.
The amazing lives we have been granted, offer us the
privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give the
less fortunate a better future and opportunities.”
Andrea
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5. ABF Mission
Our mission is to empower people and
communities who are in situations of poverty,
illiteracy, distress due to illness and social
exclusion by promoting and supporting national
and international projects that help to overcome
these barriers.
The Foundation works to ensure that all persons
and each community can express themselves to
the best of their abilities beyond their limits.
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6. How Do We Work
ABF Values: the 5 Cs
COURAGE
to believe
in changes
CARE
for people
that we
approach
CONCRETENESS
In providing
tangible and
misurable
solution
COMPETENCE
For action
to be
efficient
COOPERATION
partecipation
and
contribution
Trust
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7. ABF MIT :
Area Programs
Challenges program: ABF funds a multi-disciplinary
research group at MIT for the creation of a system allowing
blind or visually impaired people to achieve greater
autonomy, especially outdoors and when socialising.
Break the Barriers program: ABF identifies interventions in
the fight against absolute poverty that can be measured by
impact and number of lives saved, and it is paying
particular attention to J-Pal, a social research laboratory at
MIT.
Two parallel workshops devoted to the intervention
programs of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation (related to the
research activity currently being conducted at MIT).
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8. How Do We Work
Living Laboratory
Joining forces is the winning
slogan of this exciting
project
Enhance every relationship
created by Andrea
Open and face to stimulate
and work in order to induce
changes in culture that bring
a higher quality of life for
many.
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9. ABF Commitment
Dissemination: Encourage researchers to
work on this issue,
find new solutions
exchange new ideas (organizing workshops and meetings)
 Research:
Fund innovative projects for the creation of assistive technologies
Be of support and stimulus to new ideas
Multidisciplinarity:
find solutions from different points of view in order to innovate
Impact:
 stimulate the development of solutions that can be produced and
engineered;
increase the exchange between international scientists
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10. ABF Challenges Program
•Bring together the best minds to find innovative
solutions to help people cope with and overcome the
limits imposed by their disability or difficulties.
• Operate within the area of scientific and
technological research and social innovation
• Accept major challenges in terms of both investments
and results to be achieved in the willingness to allow
anyone who experiences economic or social difficulties to
fully express their potential.
• Launch challenges involving high-risk investments and
global interest to improve the living conditions of many
people
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11. ABF Challenges Program
Pisa 2012 Workshop
Workshop Challenges
Pisa July 6°, 2012
“Find innovative solutions to
help people to overcome the
limits imposed by their
disabilities. Italian and
American scientist at work”
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12. Challenges Workshop 2012
•The MIT Fifth Sense Project: Providing the Functions of Vision to Blind
People S. Teller and co-authors, MIT
•Music Accessibility for Visual Impaired P. Nesi, G. Nicotra, Univ. Firenze
•Intelligence in the Hand: From Human to Artificial Haptics A.Bicchi, Univ.
Pisa
•When your smart phone becomes your guide dog I.Tinnirello, P. Gallo, Univ.
Palermo
•Haptic Interfaces: access to digital computing for Visual Impaired C.
Avizzano, A. Frisoli, M. Carrozzino, C. Evangelista S. Anna, Pisa
•Two Research Projects on Computer Vision for the Visually Impaired C.
Guida, M. Fanfani and C. Colombo, Univ. Firenze
•Social networks: opportunities and challenges for blind people M. Buzzi, C.
Buzzi, B. Leporini, CNR Pisa.
•Seeing with ears, hands and the bionic eyes: from theories of brain
organization to visual rehabilitation A: Amedi, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem
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13. ABF Challenges Program
(Financed Program) Open Work
FIFTH SENSE
PROJECT
Intelligent wearable
perception and highresolution tactile display
aimed at increasing the
independence of blind
people.
The system integrates perception
and human-computer interaction
through a tactile interface.
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14. ABF Challenges Program
Open Work
FIFTH SENSE
PROJECT
Development of a system which proposes the creation of
new situational awareness algorithms of perception
aimed at:
•
Identification of “safe” walking terrain
•
Recognition of nearby people
•
Detection and decoding of environmental text
Design of a new, scalable type of tactile element for high
resolution displays.
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15. 5/12/2013
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16. 2° Challenges Workshop: AIMS
•Find a new understanding of the complex challenge of enabling
visually impaired people in getting and achieving a better autonomous
life via a multidisciplinary approach.
•RESEARCH question:
how are neuroscientists and computer scientists working to understand the
functional uses of vision and develop innovative technologies enabling visually
impaired people to increase their independence and social inclusion?
•This problem needs to be reformulated beyond the classical boundaries of
each involved discipline in order to achieve innovative solutions
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17. 2° Challenges WS
Different Approaches
We are approaching the problem from our own perspective, but we are all
answering the same question:
Is it possible for visually impaired people, thanks to technology
and science, to live an autonomous life, be independent, work
and socialize?
•DISCUSSION: how to get a unique multidisciplinary new understanding.
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18. 2° Challenges Ws
Different Approaches
Themes:
•the neurological aspects of vision;
•retinal prosthesis;
•the design of assistive technologies helping blind people in the
autonomous navigation and orientation, either outdoors or
indoors, avoiding obstacles; spotting texts;
•assistive technologies to efficiently socialize and recognize faces
and people expressions;
•games and tools helping blind children;
•answers to the question of what is vision without sight and what
is vision in terms of perceptual and cognitive functioning for the
blinds
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19. Welcome to MIT from ABF
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20. “Promoting research for the benefit of humankind”
www.andreabocellifoundation.org
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