Anu Kuruvilla By Express News Service KOCHI: When it comes to caring for those with neuro-development disorders, much needs to be done. A major problems faced by them, especially those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is developing social skills. “It is very tough to train them. Since my mother, an expert in clinical linguistics, worked with the Institute for Communicative and Cognitive Neuro Sciences, I was constantly exposed to the trials and tribulations of these children,” says Sathyanarayanan A R, CEO, Embright Infotech Pvt Ltd.So, he decided to do something about it. Sathyanarayanan’s experience in virtual reality-assisted technology (VR) while working as an innovation specialist helped him to come up with a company that develops VR healthcare solutions. Founders of XR Healthcare Bobin Chandra and Sathyanarayanan A R “Together with my friend Bobin Chandra, a management specialist, I founded Embright Infotech Private Limited in May 2017,” he said.Their flagship product, XR Healthcare, provides affordable home therapy for patients suffering from neurodevelopmental disorders such as ASD, cerebral palsy and mental retardation, stroke and trauma, in a safe and fun environment with an immersive experience. “This therapeutic application is based on virtual reality which has already been adopted in surgery simulation, phobia treatment, robotic surgery and skill training for healthcare professionals to learn new skills as well as refreshing existing ones,” he said. The benefit and advantage of using VR are that it provides an immersive near-to-human experience, he added. “Also, the technology gives the children simple communicating strategies that lead to awareness and acceptance of the outside world. Providing parental involvement in a safe, fun and immersive module ensures their engagement in a social and meaningful way,” said Sathyanarayanan. The platform developed by Embright is called XR-AI-based assistive technology platform for autism spectrum disorder and special education. According to Sathyanarayanan, already the company has tied up with the Social Justice Department. “We have already distributed VR headsets to six Buds Schools in Kannur, Kasaragod and Malappuram. The VR headsets provide the children with realtime experience in a virtual world and help them acquire the much-needed social skills,” he said. The results at the Buds Schools have been wonderful, he added. “The children have shown great improvement,” said Sathyanarayanan. Another facet of the VR platform is to teach special children traffic rules. “You can’t expect to take an autistic child to the street to teach them how to cross the road. They might get bewildered and it will end up a very traumatic experience for them. However, learning how to cross a road becomes very easy using VR,” he said. As for the expansion plans, he said, “We are going to expand to other cities and states in the country, especially remote areas. Within months we are planning to expand outside the nation and set up therapy and R&D centres across the GCC countries, UK and US,” he said.

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