Vodafone Spain Foundation and Qualcomm to help intellectually disabled workers perform daily jobs

BARCELONA, SPAIN: Qualcomm Inc., through its Wireless Reach initiative, Vodafone Spain Foundation (VSF) and the APROCOR Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at improving the quality of life of the intellectually disabled and their families, today presented the Augmented Reality for e-labora project, which aims to help workers with intellectual disabilities integrate into the labor market.

People with intellectual disabilities need assistance to perform work tasks, such as how to replenish depleted products on store shelves or what to do when a copy machine runs out of paper. With this in mind, the Augmented Reality for e-labora project, implemented by VSF and the APROCOR Foundation and supported by the Spanish Government through the Avanza 2 Plan (TSI-040500-2010-85), seeks to develop a new paradigm of accessible work environments.

This project will work to improve the integration of intellectually disabled persons in the workplace, creating an environment that enhances their safety, emotional stability, communication, self-determination and participation.

Using Qualcomm's Vuforia augmented reality (AR) platform, 3G-enabled smartphones and tablets, and applications and content created by VSF, the project incorporates AR into job coaching and training activities.

With a grant from Qualcomm's Wireless Reach initiative, these AR-enabled devices will be used as personal support tools that provide communication, scheduling functions, on-location tutoring, step-by-step training, task descriptions and other relevant information. Applications include an office navigation tool, a printer instruction guide, and a manual to help gardeners and supermarket stockers through their daily tasks.

For example, with the EasyUse AR application, the user points a mobile device at a printer to access an interactive instruction guide with easy-to-understand learning commands that have been digitally superimposed onto the physical environment.