UCLIC Seminar, 12 July 2023. Dean Mohamedally & Sheena Visram.

Recording of UCLIC Research Seminar of Dean Mohamedally & Sheena Visram, UCL.
Title: MotionInput: Touchless Computing and its Application in Clinical Healthcare Interaction
Abstract: This talk will introduce UCL MotionInput, a suite of software applications developed since Summer 2020, by over 150 students and academics at University College London's Department of Computer Science. The software enables a variety of pathways of touchless interactions with a computer using a standard webcam and laptop running Microsoft Windows. It enables touchless capability for the majority of existing Windows applications without further modifications and encompasses several AI and Computer Vision models from leading organisations. User interactions are facilitated as mixed modalities such as combinations of speech commands, in-air touchpoints simulation, digital ink simulation, finger and hand recognition gestures, 2D-3D depth approximation, facial navigation, facial switches and whole-body movements including shaped gesture patterns. It has been optimised for latency and suitability in a variety of touchless computing use cases in collaboration with UCL IXN partners at Intel, Microsoft and IBM, developed as an alternative input for a keyboard, mouse, or joypad. This includes for gaming, population health, accessibility and digital healthcare. This talk will cover a brief overview on each of these, followed by a focused discussion into clinical applications for this technology. The urgency and importance of this development was significant during the COVID-19 pandemic period, when the NHS needed more hygienic ways to interact with shared computers and new ways to consult with their patients from afar.
Speaker Bio: "Hello world." Professor Dean Mohamedally is a Professor in Computer Science, specialising in Software Engineering and Industry Projects and a member of the Software Systems Engineering group at the Department of Computer Science, University College London. He is one of the inventors and Projects Directors of the UCL Industry Exchange Network (IXN) which implements and iterates a methodology that he co-founded with Prof Graham Roberts (UCL) and Geoff Hughes (Microsoft) in 2011. The IXN programme is centred around term-time teaching with students based in labs at UCL, with all sectors of industry clients engaging with the students on Proof of Concepts (PoC), at scale. He is also the Chair for the IXN for the NHS Programme Subcommittee. The IXN for the NHS programme oversees one of the largest calls for early PoC R&D in healthcare, with software engineering projects collaborations with NHS trusts and groups across the country. The IXN programme was reported in the NHS England Topol Review (2019) as a best practice for early R&D and has received recognition and support by the UK Govt's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Sheena Visram is researching the adoption of emerging technologies as part of a PhD at UCLIC and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children's DRIVE Innovation Hub. This alongside enjoying a new chapter as a new mum. She is an accomplished clinical leader with experience across public and private healthcare systems for over twenty years. She advises on the rapid prototyping and proof-of-concept design of new technologies in healthcare. She has consulted on Accelerator programmes funded by the mayor's office to drive innovation and job creation across the London health economy and at the Francis Crick Institute. Before embarking on her PhD, she successfully cultivated the partnership between DeepMind Health and Imperial College London Healthcare to deliver on implementation strategies and clinical go-live for a smartphone App to free up clinician time from administrative tasks to deliver care back to the bedside. Her research is conducted with inspiration and supervision from Professors Yvonne Rogers and Neil Sebire.
Dean and Sheena are founders of UCL MotionInput along with Dr Atia Rafiq and Prof Graham Roberts.