conTatto: an interactive system for active musicoteraphy of the autistic spectrum disorder and psycho-Motorial rehabilitation

In the context of Contatto project, commissioned by MousikEssere, the Signal and Images Lab of ISTI-CNR developed a system for active music-therapy to be used with young subjects affected by autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The system uses a video camera, a FireWire digitalization board, and a Macintosh computer running an original software. During the therapy sessions the patient freely moves his body inside an empty room. The software, using special algorithms, can extrapolate features from the human figure, such as spatial position, arms and legs angles etc. Using the software GUI the medical operator can link these features to sounds synthesized in real time, following the therapy schema. The system latency is very low thanks to the use of Mac OS X native libraries (CoreImage, CoreAudio). The resulting augmented interaction with the environment could help to improve the contact with reality in young autistic subjects. With some little variations, and the use of additional sensors, the system can be successfully used for other diseases, such as alzheimer. Key words: gesture recognition, musico-therapy, autism spectrum disorder