Army Recruits Tested By MU’s Hypothesis

“Originally we were developing the software for research purposes. More specifically, for the field of cartography – we were interested in how alternative forms of representation may affect the way people read maps. To carry out this research we had to develop a piece of software that would be capable of displaying a broad range of stimulus materials and, at the same time, monitoring reactions of test subjects and recording their answers,” recollects Dr. Čeněk Šašinka, head of the Centre for Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Sciences at the Faculty of Arts MU. He developed the original software in collaboration with his colleague from the Faculty of Science and Ing. Kamil Morong from the company Tilioteo Ltd who programmed the software and named it.

Later on the scientists came up with the idea to adapt the software to be used in psychological practice. That is why they asked for Proof of Concept support. Back then the Brno Military Hospital took part in the project as well. “We had psychological tests prepared for the Hypothesis system; however, for it to be used in psychodiagnostics, norms had to be created for the specific population. That’s why we gave the software to the Military Hospital for free together with some preliminary norms. Thanks to the test being used, we receive more and more data which helps to make the tools more accurate,” describes the collaboration Dr. Šašinka.

Because of this previous project, the research cooperation with the Brno Military Hospital is non-commercial. Based on this, the Military University Hospital Prague decided to buy the software license under commercial terms. Research cooperation with the hospital will carry on as well. To implement and use the software and the three tests of cognitive functions will cost the several hundred thousand CZK.

“From the point of view of commercialization of a scientific result from a ‘humanities’ department, it represents a rather singular case. Humanities have a lot to offer to the application sphere, however this type of technology or knowledge transfer is usually carried out on a non-commercial basis. In this respect the cooperation with the Military University Hospital is rather unique,” says TTO business manager, Mgr. Jana Daňková, on account of this commercialization she helped to arrange.

Accuracy in Milliseconds

According to Dr. Šašinka, the biggest advantages of the Hypothesis software are the great variability of its functions and it being an on-line tool. “We’ve combined the quality of a desktop application with the possibilities of an on-line solution. In comparison with other on-line tools we’ve sorted out the time accuracy. If you want to get accurate measurements, you have to make sure the conditions are the same for all test subjects. This concerns loading of test content as well – in an on-line environment a delay may occur during communication between user interface and servers,” explains Dr. Šašinka. In case a test involves for example eye tracking, the synchronization between the test and the eye tracking systém has to be accurate to a millisecond.

The great advantage of Hypothesis is the possibility of implementing batteries of tests that were created for completely different platforms. “We’re currently aware of one foreign company who have their own tests for diagnosing reading disorders by means of eye tracking. They’re looking for a platform to administer their tests more easily and that’s why they approached us,” adds Mr. Šašinka.

Other possible applications in research and diagnostics are, in his opinion, clear: for example the multi-player function, which allows several subjects to cooperate on solving one problem, could find use e.g. in behavioral economics. The multitasking function which gives subjects more stimuli or tasks at once, could help evaluate the efficiency of e.g. air traffic controllers.

Test for All Hospitals?

Čeněk Šašinka is currently working on implementing the software in the Military University Hospital. The system has to be adapted to the specific environment and modified to meet the needs of the user: there are special requirements regarding e.g. the processes used by the Hospital to administer the tests or the format of output data.

Šašinka sees a great potential in the cooperation with military hospitals. “There are three of these in the Czech Republic and they all do diagnostics using their own systems. Now they share a vision to unify this diagnostics and our Hypothesis is, in my opinion, the only system to help them achieve that,” says Šašinka. He is open even to the possibility that the future commercial application of Hypothesis will be taken care of by a private company who would be offering the software and taking care of customer service. “I am, first an foremost, a scientist and an academician and currently there are more plans than I have time for,” concludes Dr. Šašinka.