The results of the impact of the interactive multisensory technological environment called iMuse (Interactive MultiSensory Environment) are not instantaneous but have an extended duration, visibly improving the quality of life of users. It has been installed and operating in Athens for a year now.
In the iMuse environment, a subtle finger movement triggers specific sounds, a flash of colorful images and a shift in head position, a pleasant vibration on the back. With the help of technology, even the slightest movement is recorded by special sensors and automatically signals visual, auditory and tactile stimuli, giving people with disabilities or elderly individuals an unprecedented sense of body control, expression and joy.
The creator of the interactive multisensory technological environment called iMuse, a music professor at the British University of Sunderland, Phil Ellis, speaks at the ΑΠΕ – ΜΠΕ on the occasion of his upcoming presence in Greece – specifically in Kozani, where on Saturday, October 19, he will talk about the system he invented and built.
«Through iMuse, the user's physical movements generate sounds and any sound can be visualized and vibrated. In this context, individuals with disabilities, children or adults trapped in wheelchair carts, people with mobility and speech impairments, who feel «locked» in themselves and lack any means of expression, realize that their movements produce some result. Thus, they manage to communicate with the external environment, with particularly positive effects for’ them», says Mr. Ellis.
Explaining the way in which the above are achieved, it notes that in an iMuse space motion sensors are placed, which are connected to an electronic computer. Through this, a movement of the fingers, for example, on the part of the user, automatically gives a command to play a musical note or melody. At the same time, with the help of digital technology and corresponding software, the frequency and intensity of the sound produced is transformed into colorful graphics displayed on a screen. Additionally, the electronic computer gives the «signal» for the production of a pleasant vibration in special chairs, beds or boxes where the user sits.
The «philosophy» of the system is purely atom-centric and not at all interventionist, as the user himself is at the center and there is no therapist or specialist, just some assistant or otherwise «facilitator».
«Πρόκειται για κάτι εντελώς διαφορετικό από την παραδοσιακή μουσικοθεραπεία. Δεν επιδρά η μουσική πάνω στο άτομο. Αντίθετα, το περιβάλλον προσαρμόζεται στο άτομο και τις ανάγκες του, δίνοντάς του τη δυνατότητα να εκφραστεί καθώς λειτουργεί καθοριστικά η συνειδητοποίηση του γεγονότος ότι το ίδιο παράγει ήχους ή διαδοχές ήχων, εικόνες και δονήσεις», επισημαίνει ο καθηγητής.
It even cites as an example the case of a woman from Britain who suffered from depression and lived alone without having spoken to anyone for six years. He learned of this case himself from a social worker, who reported that the elderly woman seemed reluctant even to leave her house. With the start of the sessions, the results were evident and as soon as she realized that even the smallest movements affected the external environment, she began to smile and communicate visually with the people around her. After 20 weeks, she was speaking normally again, changed her appearance, did her hair, and bought new clothes.
Similar cases are presented at the APE – MPE by Mr. Ellis's associate, Natasa Efthymiou, who was also present at the incidents during her practical training. «During our visit to a nursing home in England, we found ourselves in front of a lady who, due to arthritis, could not move her fingers. The iMuse environment began recording some subtle movements, a fact that constituted such a strong stimulus that she declared that «forgot» her disability», reports characteristically.
A second woman, with paralysis in her left hand due to a stroke, managed to move the «disabled» limb forward on the sensor, creating sounds and images.
The good news is that the results of iMuse's effect are not immediate but have an extended duration, visibly improving users' quality of life. However, Mr. Ellis clarifies that it does not replace pharmaceutical treatment or any other therapy in any case, but works complementarily and additively, like physiotherapy or occupational therapy.
When asked about the impetus that started the creation of iMuse, he looks back to his memory from 14 years ago and remembers his visit to a special education school in England, for children with severe disabilities. «I saw with my own eyes how limited and «locked» in their world these children were and thought that technology could give them the opportunity to express themselves in an interactive way, so that they now have a quality of life they had never experienced before», he notes.
Thus began his personal research, the result of which was put into operation in a comprehensive form in 2004. In the studies to determine the effects of iMuse, more than 60 children and adults participated for periods ranging from 20 weeks to 7 years and with a wide age range, from two years old up to 104. The results have shown that this approach allowed many users to develop their communication skills and served as a means to express themselves and have control over their lives. Some individuals with severe disability acquired a way of expression for the first time in their lives. Also, it was observed that contact with the system's environment induces deep relaxation, which results in reduced muscle aches and pains, especially in the elderly, a general reduction of anxiety and tension, and an increase in the feeling of euphoria.
From 2011, Mr. Ellis's efforts have focused on spreading the system and establishing corresponding centers and facilities. Today, 17 iMuse rooms operate worldwide, mainly in England, but also in the Scandinavian countries, the USA, Russia and Australia. The system has «arrived» in Greece, as it has been operating here for a year in Athens, and it will soon be installed in Kozani.
On the occasion of the completion of one year of operation of iMuse in Athens, the president of the Hellenic Center for Research of Sound, Music and Speech, -where it is installed- Sofia Latsinou, points out to the APE – BPE the breadth of the population groups it can serve as it can be used by children with special needs or autism, people of the third age, seniors with dementia, depression or cancer, hospital patients and not only those suffering from paralysis and other conditions that deprive them of contact with the environment.
«The improvement of the user's quality of life is enormous», he emphasizes and states that the research concerning the evolution of the system focuses on the effort to activate specific brain regions of patients related to movement.
The interest of the Kozani community in such applications, notes, on his part, the professor of vocal studies and music therapist, Theodoros Voulgarakis. Presenting his own experience over the years, more generally, from the field of music therapy, he emphasizes that a large group of people benefits especially from it, a fact that also sparked the efforts to install iMuse in Western Macedonia.
Source: portal.kathimerini.gr
