Projects

Roman Rosipal

International projects

DONUT – European Doctoral Network for Neural Prostheses and Brain Research
Európska doktorandská sieť pre neurálne protézy a výskum mozgu
Program:	Horizon Europe
Duration:	1.1.2024 – 31.12.2027
Project leader:	Ing. Mgr. Rosipal Roman, DrSc.
Annotation:	DONUT, European Doctoral Network for Neural Prostheses and Brain Research has the mission to provide a multidisciplinary and inter-sectoral network for young talented researchers. The ambition of the project is to serve as a springboard for the expansion of EU partners into the fast-developing Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology and connected scientific disciplines. The DN will leverage the complementary expertise of 7 academic beneficiaries and 8 associated partners from 8 EU countries, to guide its 10 doctoral candidates (DCs) to address and solve deep problems in brain research, development of different BCI applications and systems with the latest technological advancements.The proposed DN will integrate existing research in BCI systems to make it more user-friendly, suitable for different types of potential end-users and for modern medical diagnostics. The DN would also provide excellent opportunities for career development of young researchers under the umbrella of German doctorate graduate school PK NRW (Graduate School for Applied Research in North Rhine-Westphalia, with over 180 participating professors), regularly offering specialised trainings and courses including Scientific Research Writing, Academic Presentation Skills, etc. Early scientific independence is one of key goals of training programmes.It is the ambition of DONUT to build a strong and lasting network not only between the DCs but also between the participating beneficiaries and associated partners. DONUT researchers will benefit of a dense network of contacts with scientists acquired during network-wide training events, to improve their career prospects in the European and worldwide innovation sector, having the opportunity to become scientists employable in both the industrial and academic sectors. The participation of 7 industrial participants in research and training programmes will guarantee extensive inter-sectoral experience for the trainees and maximise the impact. Project Partners:Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW), GermanyRadboud University (RU), NetherlandsKatholieke Universiteit Leuven (“KU Leuven”) (KUL), BelgiumUniversidad Miguel Hernández de Elche (UMH), SpainAarhus University (AU), DenmarkKauno technologijos universitetas (KTU), LithuaniaInstitute of Measurement Science, Slovak Academy of Sciences (IMSAV), Slovakia

National projects

cBCI-VR – Collaborative BCI post-stroke neurorehabilitation using a patient-therapist interactive VR environment
Pacient-terapeut kolaboratívna BCI-VR neurorehabilitácia po cievnej mozgovej príhode
Program:	Plán obnovy EÚ
Duration:	1.9.2024 – 31.8.2026
Project leader:	Ing. Mgr. Rosipal Roman, DrSc.
Annotation:	A growing body of evidence suggests that integrated brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies and virtual reality (VR) environments provide a flexible platform for a range of neurorehabilitation therapies, including significant motor recovery and cognitive-behavioral therapy following stroke. When a subject is immersed in such an environment, their perceptual level of social interaction is often impaired due to a suboptimal interface quality that lacks the social aspect of human interactions. The project proposes a user-friendly intelligent BCI system with a suitable VR environment in which both patient and therapist interact through their person-specific avatar representations. On the one hand, the patient voluntarily and at his/her own pace controls his/her activity in the environment and interacts with the therapist through a BCI-driven mental imagery process. On the other hand, the therapist\’s unrestricted motor and communication skills allow for full control of the environment. Thus, the VR environment can be flexibly modified by the therapist, allowing for the creation and selection of different occupational therapy scenarios according to the patient\’s recovery needs, mental states, and immediate reactions.

TInVR – Trustworthy human–robot and therapist–patient interaction in virtual reality
Dôveryhodná interakcia človek–robot a terapeut–pacient vo virtuálnej realite
Program:	SRDA
Duration:	1.7.2022 – 30.6.2026
Project leader:	Ing. Mgr. Rosipal Roman, DrSc.
Annotation:	We aim to study specific forms of social interaction using state-of-the-art technology – virtual reality (VR) which is motivated by its known benefits. The project has two main parts, human–robot interaction (HRI) and therapist–patient interaction (TPI). The interactions are enabled using head-mounted displays and controllers allowing the human to act in VR. We propose two research avenues going beyond the state-of-the-art in respective contexts. In HRI, we will develop scenarios allowing the humanoid robot to learn, understand and imitate human motor actions using flexible feedback. Next, we develop scenarios for testing and validating human trust in robot behavior based on multimodal signals. We will also investigate physical interaction with a humanoid robot NICO. In TPI with stroke patients, we develop a series of VR-based occupational therapy procedures for motor and cognitive impairment neurorehabilitation using an active and passive brain-computer interface, and we will validate these procedures. We expect observations from HRI experiments to be exploited in TPI. The proposed project is highly multidisciplinary, combining knowledge and research methods from psychology, social cognition, robotics, machine learning and neuroscience. We expect to identify features and mechanisms leading to trustworthy processes with a human in the loop, as a precondition of success, be it a collaborative task or treatment in VR.