[Courtesy of SK Telecom]
SEOUL -- South Korea's largest mobile carrier SK Telecom and Seoul National University Hospital will cooperate to develop artificial intelligence-based therapeutic solutions and services for people with developmental disabilities and challenging behavior. The solution will help doctors and guardians monitor for early symptoms of the disability and provide therapeutic services.
Challenging behavior is displayed by people who have severe learning disabilities when their needs are not met. The common examples of challenging behavior are aggression, self-injurious behavior such as head banging and biting self, shouting and swearing, and soiling.
According to government data, 247,910 South Koreans were registered as people with developmental disabilities in 2020. About 24 percent have simple labor jobs mainly at small and medium-sized enterprises including fast-food restaurants and mechanical workshops. The average employment period is five years.
SK Telecom (SKT) said in a statement on December 22 that the company and Seoul National University Hospital signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate in the development of information communication technology-based developmental disability diagnostics solutions and therapeutic processes for challenging behavior.
The mobile carrier and the university hospital will release a smartphone app in the first half of 2022 to help patients' guardians to monitor and diagnose the activity of people. The artificial intelligence (AI)-based solution will be distributed to 10 local developmental disability clinics and behavior improvement centers across South Korea.
Currently, guardians take pictures or film challenging behavior of patients and send them to doctors for analysis. SKT's solution will make it easier for guardians to share information with medical personnel and help doctors analyze video information more effectively.
Various technologies are currently being used in South Korea to help people with developmental disabilities to meld into society and live an ordinary life. In October 2021, South Korea's major telecom company KT demonstrated a virtual reality-based job education program for people with developmental disabilities.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
