Outputs – Inventors and Entrepreneurs
Assistive Technologies
Prototyping assistive technologies to enable employment and workplace success
Human-technology partnerships are central to the Center’s work, both because neuro-diverse individuals often respond better to technology based interventions and because such solutions may be more scalable to the broad population of neuro-diverse individuals.
NASA Neurodiversity Showcase
The Frist Center for Autism and Innovation currently includes two signature activities, led by Director Keivan Stassun and housed at the Center’s headquarters in the Vanderbilt Innovation Hub, that showcase neuro-diverse teams engaging in entrepreneurship and commercialization as they develop innovative software and hardware products for NASA-sponsored research.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems Lab
The Robotics and Autonomous Systems Lab are dedicated to developing new generations of robots and computer-based intelligent systems that are able to interact with people in a smooth and natural way
The Tong Lab
The laboratory of Dr. Frank Tong focuses on the problem of how the human brain is able to perceive, experience, and interpret the world visually. Through the development of innovative interactive tests designed to quantify exceptional visuo-spatial abilities, pattern recognition, and outlier detection, the Frist Center for Autism & Innovation seeks to provide new ways of recognizing the capabilities of neuro-diverse individuals and then matching these capabilities to workforce needs.
Technology Partners
Mentra is a neurodivergent-friendly talent platform that intelligently matches neurodiverse individuals with employers that value their strengths. Mentra puts recruiters in front of candidates rather than forcing them to navigate through the challenging process of finding a job. How? Through humantistic AI and community-driven design.
Floreo leverages the power of Virtual Reality to deliver a supplementary method of teaching social and communication skills for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Our library of science-based lessons is fun and engaging for the learner, and also provides a supervising adult the opportunity to monitor and track the learner’s progress. Floreo is currently being used by schools, therapy practices, and parents.