Erasmus MC Sophia Kinderziekenhuis
Child Brain Lab
The first Child Brain Lab in the Netherlands provides more insight into the development of children with disorders of the head, brain and senses. The aim is to provide them with better customised care.
Children go through a circuit of IQ, language and movement tests in the lab. In a playful manner, researchers measure all kinds of things, such as motor skills and brain activity, but also cognitive skills. This way, the hospital collects a huge amount of data on brain disorders in a child-friendly and structured manner. This gives researchers a better picture of the disease course of brain disorders.
For the waiting room, we developed an application that allows children to play with colours. It gives them some distraction prior to the exciting tests. In the 'motoric room' at the end of a long walking mat full of sensors, there are large TV screens on which a forest, city, beach, universe, underwater or Minecraft world is projected. The children walk into a different world in their perception, while the researchers analyse their gait.
In co-creation sessions, together with MMEK and the Children's Advisory Board, we designed three characters that guide the children through the test in a game-like manner. During the test, the avatar tells them what to do: look around, close their eyes, move their fingers, or watch a movie.