Remora is an AI-based assistant application that helps people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) enhance their communication abilities in a social context. The main focus is on writing content, rephrasing a text, second-degree detection, or any social signal that can make ASD people confused due to their singularities.
In modern society, diversity is more important than ever. I was always aware of this topic, which concerned equality between people and action to overcome injustice. The topic of ASD has become more highlighted in recent years; however, despite this increased awareness, the topic is largely unknown by many people and even by scientists, especially in France, when other Western countries like Canada are way more advanced on this topic . In France alone, ASD concerns 700,000 people and represents in a worldwide 1% percent of the global population worldwide. Unfortunately, the tool used to guide ASD people can't fit well in social interaction when it's a question to be on the field. In France, a tool used to guide people with ASD or any other disorder is called AVS, it can be translated as "Social Life Auxiliary". However, this assistance requires the presence of someone, but in the context of direct social interaction, letting someone translate social code or even delegate difficult tasks is a high investment. Let an AI application do this task can improve the fluency of social interaction and take more independence of the person exactly in the same way glasses for people with myopia, don't need any assistance to see something.
ASD means Autism Spectrum Disorder. It's considered neurotypical, a neologism where the cognitive profile doesn't fit with the standard profile of the average cognition called neurotypical by the opposition. The main difficulties encountered by ASD people are the following: communication, social interaction, cognitive flexibility, and emotion management. Even if ASD is considered an "invisible disability" due to chronic daily life issues and difficulty being perceived by others, it's better to consider it more like a difference with this unique strength and weakness. The term "Spectrum" shows the large array of cases implied on ASD. This is the reason the project is focused on communication because this point is the epicenter of the problem ASD people encounter regardless of the case.
ASD is a neurological disorder. It means something that seems obvious to many people can be a struggle for an ASD one due to their difficulty in learning an assimilating social manner. For this reason, software using deep learning seems a perfect starting point to build a solution for this disability.
(The name is not definitive and can be changed)
The remora is a "copilot" fish who is usually attached on bigger animals and even rid of parasites. This is a good metaphor for what the application does, an assistance that was designed to help ASD people. And also makes a reference to the narrow focus ASD people usually have on very specific topics like animals which is a common topic for ASD.
An application that involves an AI to help ASD with social interaction doesn't already exist so far.
To make a parallel, this project looks like Grammarly, an AI who fixes grammatical and orthographic mistakes on any edited text file. On the other hand, Remora "translates" any text to a neuro-friendly version of the content on any files involved in writing content.