Innovative Projects Realized

Neuroptik Eye/Brain Concussion Diagnosis

The partner organization’s primary stakeholder, Dr. Behzad Mansouri is a domain expert in the field of clinical eye examinations and their relationship to brain health. Dr. Mansouri knows the applications that are necessary to provide those in remote areas with access to health care related to his field, but does not have the means to produce the technology without assistance.

Producing a mobile platform that would allow for valid examination information along with convenience to the end user will provide considerable challenges. Initially the platform would be designed so that a custom cartridge can be printed for any given phone and used as a VR headset. When wearing the headset the patient would be able to take a visual acuity test much like a patient in a doctor’s office. This would preclude the need for a specialized monitor or other display to be present when taking the examination. One of the major technological challenges would be devising a means of receiving accurate feedback from the patient while they are unable to interact with the phone physically.

Developing Efficient Machine Learning Models for Price Bidding

Curate Mobile operates a demand site platform (DSP), which is an advertising platform responsible for bidding in real time ad placements from various publishers. This process is a blind auction, happening over 50,000 times a second, and during this bidding process we have less then 100ms to determine which of our clients should bid for this ad placement, how much it might be worth to them, and what price we believe we can win this auction for. During this project, we will add machine learning models to our DSP to provide fast decisions in real time to maximize the return on ad spend of our clients’ campaigns. The main goal for this project is to add proof-of-concept machine learning model to Curate Mobile’s DSP, with a pipeline that will continually update the models with new data as it is ingested. We will also design a validation module to monitor and validate the performance of the developed models.

Investigating the effect of REAP, a rare earth element and micronutrient fertilizer, on cannabis physiological growth variables, yield and product quality.

The research proposed will produce critical knowledge relevant to the cannabis industry, allowing for the production of high-quality plant material with optimum cannabinoid concentrations. The project will investigate a rare earth element supplemental fertilizer (REAP) effects on cannabis growth, flower yield and cannabinoid concentrations. We will evaluate application of REAP at three rates and hypothesize that improved yield of flowers and cannabinoids will occur at higher application rates and
that these benefits will be associated with improved plant water and nutrient transport and reduced salinity stress associated with fertigation. We will examine the microscopic anatomy of the root and stem vascular elements, leaf water potential and photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance during plant growth as well as trichome density on cannabis flowers. We expect: an improved understanding of how rare earth element fertilizers interact with cannabis plants to improve growth, yield and/or
cannabinoid accumulation. This knowledge will pave the way for the adoption of REAP use in cannabis production systems.

The role of MRC2 expression on peripheral immune cells in the context of multiple sclerosis

La sclérose en plaque est une maladie auto-immune du cerveau et de la moelle épinière, c’est-à-dire que les globules blancs qui normalement protègent le corps vont reconnaitre des éléments du soi comme étranger et dégrader. Cette dégradation va engendrer une inflammation et une infiltration des globules blancs dans le cerveau et la moelle épinière causant ainsi des dégâts. Pour contrer ces effets nous cherchons à empêcher leur entrée dans le cerveau. Dans cette étude nous nous intéressons au MRC2 qui est augmenté dans la sclérose en plaque, et dont le blocage pourrait permettre de réduire la migration de ces globules blancs.

Automated Tunnel Inspector

High-resolution visual and spatial models are transforming traditional methods of inspecting heavy civil infrastructure. These models overcome the inaccuracy and uncertainty of traditional inspection methods and enable infrastructure owners to assess deterioration and prepare plans for repair. Despite photogrammetry being the fastest method of collecting data for these models, it is slower than a traditional walk-through by an inspector.
The research will design, construct, and test a vehicle that will quickly and semi-autonomously photograph infrastructure. The design must overcome significant challenges: the vehicle components will be delivered through a small porthole for assembly; it will semi-autonomously operate in a hostile environment; and will position a camera to photograph thousands of images per day.
The initial market is hydroelectric tunnels and penstocks, but the vehicle may be adapted for other hydroelectric infrastructure, as well as highway and railway tunnels and subways.

A Model for Measuring Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Canada

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the leading cause of developmental disabilities in Canada and is an umbrella term describing the range of effects associated with alcohol use during pregnancy. Currently, we do not know exactly how many Canadians are living with FASD, but we estimate 350,000 and that 3,000-4,000 babies with FASD are born every year. The costs for health, mental health, social services, education, and productivity losses are estimated to be a staggering $5.3 billion per year. An accurate measure of the number of Canadians living with FASD (the “prevalence”) is important for many reasons, including justification for FASD programming, better planning for use of FASD resources, identifying those at risk for FASD and alcohol consumption during pregnancy, determining trends, calculating costs and measuring effectiveness of prevention, and intervention efforts. Determining the prevalence of FASD will take a national coordinated and collaborative effort across jurisdictions and sectors. The objectives of this proposal are to take the first steps toward developing a plan of action for measuring FASD prevalence in Canada by performing an environment scan.

Efficacy of Compliance and Ethics Training using a Virtual Reality Interface

V-Train wishes to research and test how to best use virtual reality to improve outcomes in ethics and compliance training in the financial services industry. Current training methods such as eLearning and traditional classroom-based instruction have proven ineffective in information retention and improving behavioural outcomes. Key aspects of the project include:
– Creating VR training delivery playbook in physical form
– Building incentives and different scenarios in playbook using behavioural science applications to better engage the trainee in the VR format
– Developing initial VR module interface using the playbook
– Analysing the impact of training delivered using the VR interface vs regular desktop training
– Providing recommendations for generalised incorporation into different VR training module playbooks

Does Health Literacy have a different meaning depending on the Culture?

Can health be understood differently in different cultures?

Many studies (Murray & al., 2018; Glouberman & Millar, 2003) have already investigated the level and distribution of health in Canada. There are also studies assessing health literacy and its possible improvement among Aboriginal people (Smylie, Williams & Cooper, 2006). However, there are few (if any) studies that address the definition of health competencies across cultures. The aim of this project will be to explore in detail what it means for members of different cultures to have “health competencies”, and how they value their importance to achieve and maintain health in different fields of health care. To that effect, Canadian citizens and representatives of different cultural backgrounds will be interviewed (N= approx 30) using a semi-structured interview approach focusing on the meaning of health and health competencies as experienced by the participants, to understand if and how culture impacts the perception of health literacy. The results of the study will allow to evaluate to what extent the concept of health literacy is robust across cultures and if measuring and comparing the level of health literacy across cultures is meaningful.

Multi-sensor technology to safely navigate exercise in extreme temperatures

Extreme temperatures increase the risk when exercising. The early recognition of symptoms and physiological changes (i.e. heart rate alterations) can help to prevent temperature-related illnesses. Wearable devices available in the market are key to monitor health parameters but not to indicate risk exposure. Thus, we aim to identify the best combination of health parameters to determine the intensity/duration threshold that, if exceeded, would place people at risk due to extreme external temperature (heat/cold); and to validate a textile-based multi-sensor wearable technology (MWT) vest that will monitor the optimal combination of physiological parameters and alert individuals when they reach the threshold that would place them at increased risk. It will help individuals to safely navigate exercise in days of extreme or borderline extreme temperatu

An active video game for rehabilitation therapy of children with musculoskeletal disorders

Children with musculoskeletal disorders, such as Cerebral Palsy (CP), must follow regular, intensive rehabilitation to improve their movement patterns and walking ability. Often, these protocols are perceived negatively by children, who would rather play and have fun. The use of active video game based training programs could help reduce participant attrition while improving engagement and outcomes. In collaboration with Eidos-Montréal, a research team from the Centre de recherche CHU Ste-Justine, will develop and assess, using a variety of wearable sensors, a stimulating video game which integrates the latest and most effective rehabilitation protocols for children with CP. This project has the potential to improve mobility in children with CP and to democratize access to rehabilitation via a home-based, easy to use, and enjoyable active video game.

Small Hydropower Solutions for Northern Remote Communities

In Ontario, the bulk of electricity is generated in the south close to the major population centres and transmission lines do not extend far into the North. This results in many off-grid communities north of the Great Lakes that rely on diesel generators to produce electricity. This region of Northern Ontario is host to many rivers that all flow north through the boreal forest into James Bay or Hudson Bay. For this project, a case study is being conducted of one of those rivers, the Albany River, to explore whether regions of the river are capable of supplying hydropower to meet all of a nearby off-grid community’s energy needs.
The theoretical contributions of this research project involve rethinking how small-scale hydropower is used in the landscape of Canadian energy: changing the limiting mindset of an intermittent grid-connected power source to the more sustainable reality as an off-grid continuous source of electricity.

Development of a 3D Laser Scanning System for Generating Prototypes of Buildings and Large Scale Structures

Virtual Prototypes provide a fast and efficient way to visualize objects or products during their design phase. In architecture, engineering and various construction projects 3D models are used throughout process, from design, through construction, and into the facility management phase. An accurate 3D scan could represent a built region in a virtual world. The 3D model development has been an upcoming area, however rarely studied for improvements of this technology. The objective of the current study is to develop a methodology to conduct scans on buildings and generate 3D models that could be used to create prototype models using the 3D print technology. It is intended through the current project to develop a methodology to construct a 3D prototype model of a large scale object through laser scanning technology. The entire process involves several different stages including, scanning, point cloud generation, point cloud registration, point cloud data analysis, mesh and surface generation and rapid prototyping of the 3D model. It is also intended to demonstrate the use of existing technology to scan a complex 3D object and develop an actual prototype of this object.