Tohoku University Motoaki Sugiura Lab.

A research paper on "Virtual Avatar Communication Task eliciting Pseudo-Social Isolation And Detecting Social Isolation using Non-Verbal Signal Monitoring In Older Adults" has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Psychology. This research was conducted in collaboration with Doshisha Women's University and Hokkaido University. As an overview of the research, the suicide rate caused by social isolation among the elderly is steadily rising worldwide along with the aging of society. However, social isolation is difficult for people to recognize even by themselves, and when they do recognize it, they are often suffering from severe mental disorders. Therefore, in this study, we are attempting to develop a system to detect early social isolation by monitoring facial expressions and eye movements while talking with a computer (Takemoto).

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1507178/abstract