Projects currently running across our research themes — what is done and what still needs to be done...
Using the Pepper humanoid robot to teach Pakistan Sign Language, exploring whether an embodied tutor holds attention and models hand shapes better than screen-based instruction.
A culturally-grounded explainable AI system for autism developmental screening in South Asia, correcting for parental scoring bias. Action-imitation and voice-imitation tasks each paired with an explainability layer so clinicians can see why a score was given.
A school-deployable ADHD screening pipeline for children aged 8–12, since existing objective tools require fMRI or EEG hardware unavailable locally. Dus Pattay is a Unity tablet game across five measurement domains; Khoj is a bilingual parent-education companion.
How social robots can support speech-language therapy for Pakistani children, across ASD-related communication deficits, articulation, developmental language disorder, stuttering and bilingual code-switching gaps.
A predictive risk-modelling system aimed at identifying students at elevated risk before a crisis develops, in the same computational mental-health stream as CareSync.
How to design an interactive system that makes second language acquisition genuinely enjoyable rather than merely gamified, studied with learners in their own settings.
How virtual reality can support people living with dementia, and specifically which contextual factors within a VR environment — familiarity, pacing, sensory load — make a difference to engagement and recall.
Whether gamified VR simulating everyday activities improves engagement and outcomes in upper-limb rehabilitation for stroke, Parkinson's and spinal injury patients. A Unity XR virtual house with five tasks targeting wrist rotation, reach and hand-eye coordination.
A culturally-grounded system for informal Pakistani family caregivers, addressing both logistical burden and emotional stressors. Interviews identified six themes including emotional labour, filial piety and elder resistance to help.
Understanding how women actually move through the city — the routes taken, avoided and negotiated — and how technology could support safer, more autonomous urban commuting.
Navigating the city through different personas: how a resident, a visitor, a student and a trader each read the same streets, and what a wayfinding system would have to hold to serve them all.
Every project here has room for a research assistant. Completed work sits on the student projects page.