Eurofarma, a Brazilian-based multinational pharmaceutical corporation with operations in 22 countries, and global creative agency Dentsu Creative, today announced the launch of a new … read morefacial expression recognition experimental tool powered by artificial intelligence that enables patients with Parkinson’s disease to control their social media engagement using facial expressions. The WHO (World Health Organization) estimates 8.5 million people worldwide are affected by Parkinson's disease. In addition to any medical treatment in place, patients need to undergo physical therapy to slow the progression of symptoms of the neurological disease. The project team was dedicated to developing an innovative experimental digital tool that can help patients perform facial exercises through social media, controlling commands on the device's screen through gestures. From the partnership between Dentsu Creative and Eurofarma, and with the support of the Brazil Parkinson Association was born Scrolling Therapy, an innovative app integrated with the social media networks Facebook and Instagram, and which, through the use of artificial intelligence, encourages patients to navigate the feed only by using facial expressions, such as smiles, mouth movements, nose, forehead, eyebrows, among others. The goal is to generate stimuli in the face and exercise the muscles, as a tool that can be complementary to all treatments already carried out focused on the condition. An important fact is that many patients with this disorder are unable to perform facial exercises, which can delay the symptoms of muscle atrophy in the face, causing hypomimia (reduced facial expressions). The Dentsu Creative team championed the idea, rallying around the development in support of fellow colleague, Sebastián Porta, a patient with the disorder, who manifested the need of doing something to help the Parkinson’s community. Tapping into the advance of technology and the emergence of new artificial intelligence and communication channels, the team brought to life the possibility of developing something innovative that would unite facial exercises for people with this disease, while delivering an improved social experience for them. The creation and development of the application joined efforts and collaboration of Dentsu Creative teams in Argentina, Brazil and USA, with Eurofarma and dentsu health's specialists.
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