inter stress newsletter issue 1-1

8/7/2019 Inter Stress Newsletter Issue 1-1

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Welcome to the INTERSTRESS Newsletter

INTERSTRESS was launched in March 2010 withthe aim of designing, developing, and testing anadvanced ICT-based solution for the assessmentand treatment of psychological stress. The kick-off

meeting for the project was 19 March 2010 atIstituto Auxologico Italiano in Milan, Italy.

The project will use a new eHealth concept known

as Interreality, which the creators define as ahybrid, closed-loop, empowering experience

bridging both physical and virtual worlds into oneseamless reality. In other words, behaviour in thephysical world will influence the virtual worldexperience, and behaviour in the virtual world will

influence the real-world experience.

Clinical use of interreality is based on a closed-loopconcept that involves the use of technology forassessing, adjusting, and/or moderating theemotional regulation of the individual. This is

achieved by increasing the individuals coping skillsand appraisal of the environment based upon acomparison of the individuals behavioural and

physiologic al response to training or performancecriterion. The project will provide a proof of concept

of the proposed system with clinical validation. TheINTERSTRESS project will run for 36 months.

Partner Profile

CREATE-NET

CREATE-NET (Center for Research AndTelecommunication Experimentation forNETworked communities) is a non-profitinternational organization with core competences inadvanced communication technologies, withspecial emphasis in broadband, pervasive,

wireless, networked multimedia, smartenvironments and security technologies. CREATE-

NET manages top-level collaboration and strategicalliances for integrating global key partners in

research and development actions.

STARLAB

Starlab neuroscientist Alejandro Riera, responsible

for the project in the company, explains that themain role of Starlab in INTERSTRESS is toresearch the potential use of EEG to detect stress.

"Stress will be induced in a set of participants whiletheir EEG are being recorded. By analysing the

EEG data, we will look for features that vary withthe level of stress. Once these features are

identified, we plan to use this system to monitor thestress level of the patients using the overall

INTERSTRESS stress management platform."

Starlab will also implement a neurofeedbackapplication in which patients will learn how to

modulate their EEG in order to deal with stress. "Inother words, the stress marker of the EEG will bemeasured in real time and a virtual scenario inwhich the subject is immersed will change as theEEG stress markers change", Riera says.

"As an example we can think of a virtual scenario inwhich the weather changes with the level of stressdetected with the EEG: the calmer we are, the

better weather we have but if the participant isstressed, the weather will change and rain, thunder

and lighting strikes will appear."

Enobio, the portable wireless brain monitoringsystem developed by Starlab, will be used for theproject. Since the sensor is wireless and wearable,it is a very suitable device to be integrated within

the INTERSTRESS solution.

Partner News

World of Health IT/eHealth

INTERSTRESS partner VRMI introduced the

project during the first joint eHealth conference ofthe European Commission and HIMSS Europe

The World of Health IT/eHealth Conference &Exhibition.

Between March 15 and 18, eHealth stakeholders

gathered in Barcelona, Spain, to take advantage ofthis unique collaboration between the EC andHIMSS Europe, and join the large networking and

INTERSTRESSInterreality in the Management and Treatment of Stress-Related Disorders

INTERSTRESS Newsletter * September 2010 * Issue 1


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discussion platform being offered.

Over 60 leading vendors were present to showcasetheir digital solutions for health and conduct livedemonstrations. The exhibition also featured

Industry Solution Presentations showcasing

innovative technology, as well as an InteroperabilityShowcase and Partner Pavilion, showcasingWoHIT 2010 partners efforts, programmes and

communities.

Med-e-Tel

On April 14 to 16, over 250 participants from over50 countries gathered in Luxembourg to exploreglobal telemedicine and eHealth initiatives, at the

annual Med-e-Tel networking event. Among theattendees were INTERSTRESS partners VRMI and

IAI, there not only to follow up on the latestdevelopments and initiatives in Telemedicine andeHealth, but also to introduce and disseminateinformation about the INTERSTRESS project.

In addition, the partners provided insights into

effective and efficient simulation and virtual realitytechnology for treatment, along with the therapeutic

benefits of using simulations in the areas ofprevention, training, education, therapy, and

rehabilitation.

Luxembourg Minister of Health Mars DiBartolomeo, together with Yunkap Kwankam,Executive Director of the ISfTeH, opened thisyears Med-e-Tel event, and welcomed theexchange of ideas and experiences related to ICT

applications in healthcare.

CT15

13-15 June, 2010 Seoul, KoreaCyberPsychology and CyberTherapy 15 (CT 15)

Imaging the FutureIn June 2010, INTERSTRESS partners VirtualReality Medical Institute (VRMI) and IstitutoAuxologico Italiano (IAI) presented theINTERSTRESS project during the 15th Annual

CyberPsychology and CyberTherapy Conference(CT15). This is the official conference of theInternational Association of CyberPsychology,Training, & Rehabilitation (iACToR), and it attractsclinicians and researchers from around the worldwho are using innovative technologies to provide

more effective applications for the diagnosis,

assessment, and treatment of mental and physicaldisorders. The conference featured presentations

by researchers employing interactive technologies

for training, mental health, disabilities, andrehabilitation.

On the 14th of June, 2010, a special show-and-

tell event called the Cyberarium was held. It

featured demonstrations on how virtual reality (VR)and other advanced technology products are beingapplied for therapy, training and rehabilitation.

The quality and significance of the work presented

at CT15 reaffirms that VR is already playing asignificant role in health care. CT15 exploredtechnologies as enabling tools, which included theuse of advanced technologies such as VRsimulations, videogames, telehealth, video-

conferencing, the internet, robotics, brain computerinterfaces, wearable computing, non-invasive

physiological monitoring devices, in diagnosis,assessment, and prevention of mental and physicaldisorders.

In addition, CT15 explored the impact of newtechnologies such as Twitter and Facebook on

behaviour and society, through means such ascyberadvertising, cyberfashion, and cyberstalking.

Prof. Brenda K. Wiederhold of INTERSTRESSs

partner VRMI, served as CT15 Conference Chair,

and Prof. Giuseppe Riva of IAI served as ScientificChair.

European Forum for Innovation

CREATE-NET along with the European Alliance

for Innovation (EAI) and the Autonomous Provinceof Trento organized and co-sponsored aEuropean Forum for Innovation in Trento, Italy, onJune 23-25. European Union officials, major

industry representatives and EAI partners werepresent to discuss ways of accelerating technology

development and innovation in the EuropeanCommunity. It proved the perfect opportunity topresent the INTERSTRESS project, as the forumstimulated discussions on implementing strategiesto involve the citizens of Europe in bringing about

change and ICT-enabled innovation, which willimpact all areas of society, including health.

La Notte dei Ricercatori

On September 24, 2010, INTERSTRESS partners

from CREATE-NET participated in Researchers

Night, or La Notte dei Ricercatori, in Trento, Italy.The event, a wonderful opportunity aimed at


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bringing the public closer to the world of science

through experiments, demonstrations, openlaboratories and guided tours, proved the perfectoccasion to publicize the INTERSTRESS project.

CREATE-NET disseminated information about our

project through the distribution of flyers, and apresentation stand about INTERSTRESS at theevent.

UBI-Comp

Copenhagen, Denmark, was where the 5th

International Workshop on Ubiquitous Health andWellness took place this year, on September 26th,

2010. The Workshop, as part of the12th ACMInternational Conference on Ubiquitous Computing,

was supported by MONARCA and INTERSTRESS.

This year the workshop expanded its focus fromsomatic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heartfailure, and obesity, to research encompassingubiquitous computing for mental disorders andmaintenance of mental health. The main objective

of the workshop was to strengthen cooperationwithin the growing community in pervasivehealthcare research, while exchanging ideas andforming new collaborations.

ICT 2010

Image: N. Kroes, Prince Philippe and MinisterCerexhe, cutting the ribbon to open the exhibit

INTERSTRESS partner Virtual Reality Medical

Institute (VRMI), Brussels, Belgium, attended thethree-day event ICT 2010-Digitally Driven, fromSeptember 27-29 at the Brussels Expo. The eventbrought together 6000 participants from all over

Europe, and housed more than 100

groundbreaking information and communicationtechnology (ICT) research projects funded by theEuropean Commission.

The major themes at the conference were digital

solution for sustainable growth in a low carboneconomy and the role of ICT in the life of citizens,as well as public participation and support.Attention was called to a new strategy, the EU2020, as a concrete way to leave the global crisis

behind and turn the European Union into a smart,sustainable and inclusive economy, which will

deliver productivity, social cohesion andemployment. These challenges require a commonand coordinated response.

Alongside this were calls for raising ICT researchand innovation to help increase quality of life and

overcome social challenges, as well as improvehealthcare. Christian Reinaud, CEO of Agfa-

Gevaert NV, Belgium, said that ICT is a key tool toimproving the efficiency of healthcare systems in

Europe.

European Association for Behavioral & CognitiveTherapies

IAI partners attended the European Association forBehavioral & Cognitive Therapies Conference in

Milano, on 7-10 October. The event aimed tocreate networks and strengthen rapports betweenassociations, disciplines, countries, innovations,experts, professionals and students. It further

sought to bridge the worlds of clinical practice andtheory, classical expression and innovative

developments, as well as intervention andprevention. Keeping in line with innovativepsychological treatments, the INTERSTRESSproject was brought to attention.

ISDA 2010

On November 29 through December 1st,INTERSTRESS partner Universit di Pisa (UDP)will attend the 10th International Conference onIntelligent Systems Design and Applications, where

Alessandro Tognetti of UDP will co-chair a special

session on Advances in Robotics and VirtualReality. The session will aim to stimulate and


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exchange research ideas that will contribute to the

collective advancement of robotic and virtual realitysystems.

The INTERSTRESS project will be introduced

during the session by way of a collaborative paper

between INTERSTRESS partners CNR, UDP andIAI, entitled Interreality: the Use of AdvancedTechnologies in the Assessment and Treatment of

Psychological Stress". The joint efforts of ourpartners are allowing INTERSTRESS to reach the

versatile audience of researchers, engineers,stakeholders, experts and other professionals thatwill be present in Cairo, Egypt, during thisConference.

INTERSTRESS members have participated and introduced the

project at the following conferences and workshops:

World of Health IT/eHealth, March 2010, Barcelona,Spain

Med-e-Tel, April 2010, Luxembourg, G.D. ofLuxembourg

Association for Applied Psychophysiology &Biofeedback, April 2010, San Diego, California, U.S.A.

World Health Care Congress, May 2010, Brussels,Belgium

pHealth, May 2010, Berlin, Germany

CyberPsychology & CyberTherapy Conference, June2010, Seoul, Korea

European Forum for Innovation, June 2010, Trento,Italy

American Psychological Association, August 2010,San Diego, California, U.S.A.

Measuring Behavior 2010, August 2010, Eindhoven,The Netherlands

ICT 2010, September 2010, Brussels, Belgium

UBICOMP 2010, 26-29 September 2010, Copenhagen

DK

European Association for Behavioral & CognitiveTherapies, October 2010, Milan, Italy

Upcoming opportunities include:

Global TeleHealth 2010, November 2010, Perth,Western Australia

Health Info 2011, International Conference on HealthInformatics, 26-29 January 2011, Rome IT

Medicine Meets Virtual Reality (MMVR), February2011, Newport Beach, California, U.S.A.

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