The project is born out of the cooperation of the Rafael Del Pino Foundation, Indra and the Foundation of the National Paraplegic Hospital of Toledo for Investigation and integration.
Rafael Del Pino Foundation, Indra and the Foundation of the National Paraplegic Hospital of Toledo for Investigation and Integration have received the Actualidad Economica award as one of the Best Ideas of the Year in the health category for the ToyRA (Occupational Therapy and Augmented Reality) project. This is the second time this project is awarded as in March it received the Computing Prize 2009 in the R+D category.
TOyRA aims at improving the quality of life of people living with spinal cord injuries by developing a virtual rehabilitation system supported by a therapeutic platform that allows management of more than one patient per physiotherapist at the same time it provides a proper automated follow-up management of every patient. ToyRA will also allow the creation of a database for the followup of injuries and will facilitate remote therapy monitoring.
Rafael Del Pino Foundation
The Rafael Del Pino Foundation, as an initiative of its founder, Rafael Del Pino y Moreno, started a new programme of activities in 2007 to promote initiatives that improve the quality of life of people with spinal cord injuries. The objective comprises three aspects: the first one is to contribute to improve the daily file of the injured; the second deals with the development of sports facilities, for instance the ongoing construction of Rafael Del Pino sports complex in Toledo and finally to promote technological innovation, which is where TOyRA is included.
Indra
For Indra this initiative is within the framework of Corporate Responsibility which aims at promoting innovation, in this case by developing technologies that facilitate social integration for the disable. Indra is the premier Information Technology company in Spain and a leading IT multinational in Europe and Latin America. It is ranked as the second European company in its sector according to stock market capitalisation, and also the second Spanish company with the most investment in R&D. In 2008, revenues reached € 2,380 M, of which a third came from the international market. The company employs more than 29,000 professionals and has clients in more than 90 countries.
The Foundation of the National Paraplegic Hospital of Toledo for Investigation and Integration
The Foundation of the National Paraplegic Hospital of Toledo for Investigation and integration is a public centre of the Castilla-La Mancha's regional government and it is a national reference in the thorough treatment of people with spinal cord injuries. It promotes research in biomedical sciences for the repair of the nervous system besides the R+D+i in biomedical applications as well as technical support for physical disabilities. The project is an initiative of this centre and mainly aims at improving the life quality of people with spinal cord injuries.
TOyRA project
The project called Occupational Therapy and Augmented Reality (TOyRA) aims at creating a platform that supports avant-garde technological systems used in the development of occupational therapy activities.
Augmented Reality refers to virtual situations very similar to reality through avant-garde systems with the purpose of boosting and optimising the effects of simulation or similar activities on these patients.
Cutting-edge technological systems will make Occupational Therapy more effective, either by means of its current devices or games which are equipped with sensors or with new accessories such as WII or image-treatment based devices.
Occupational Therapy will benefit from TOyRA through the application of Augmented Reality technological systems, since it will allow remote rehabilitation.
Benefits:
• Increase physiotherapeutic and medical care to patients since followup is enhanced.
• Enhance the devices and games included in the therapy
• Create a database that incorporates feedback of the patients’ evolution with technological systems for the enhancement of Occupational Therapy.