Two students from Széchenyi István University, Fanni Lőrincz and Balázs Szőnyi, have developed a solution based on artificial intelligence models that allows the user to talk to the device as if it were a living human being. Their aim was primarily to help socially isolated people and people with mental illnesses and to prevent the development of such illnesses. Their application recently won the BoschxRichter Gedeon Industrial Innovation Award.

Two great inventors, Robert Bosch and Richter Gedeon, were born on the same day, 11 years apart, and have made the world a better place through their innovations. To mark the occasion, Bosch Hungary and Richter Gedeon Plc decided to organise an Innovators' Day to celebrate the most talented members of Generation Z. At the event, the BoschxRichter Industrial Innovation Awards were presented to two students of Széchenyi István University, Fanni Lőrincz, majoring in Business Administration and Management, and Balázs Szőnyi, a student of Mechatronics Engineering, for their research and development project "Artificial Intelligence to Fight Mental Illness". Both are also active in the Institute's Automotive Industry Research Centre.

Two award-winning students of Széchenyi István University, Balázs Szőnyi and Fanni Lőrincz (fourth and fifth from left) with representatives of the Institution at the award ceremony.

"The idea for our development was inspired by the fact that dementia and brain atrophy run in my family from generation to generation on the female side. People with these diseases often become increasingly isolated, which severely affects their quality of life. To address these problems, we have collaborated with psychiatrists, psychologists and other specialists to create an innovative solution that offers them the experience of social interaction," explains Balázs Szőnyi, "Our aim is to make it easy to monitor and improve patients' cognitive abilities, memory and overall quality of life. At the same time, we want to help those who spend long periods of time alone or are socially isolated. The solution has been very well received by users who have already tried our product. We are particularly pleased that my grandmother is also using the system and the positive changes she has experienced clearly confirm that our development is indeed useful and valuable."

The innovation itself is a solution that works on mobile phones and various digital devices, allowing the user to communicate in a natural way. It is designed to be used without any prior knowledge. The application, based on artificial intelligence models, can adapt its topics to the interests of its "partner" and even weave the latest news into the conversation.  On the other hand, it continuously analyses the quality and composition of the sentences spoken during conversations, looking for the slightest differences and changes. All this allows it to deduce the onset or exacerbation of mental illnesses, but also contributes to their prevention, because constant social interaction and stimulation of brain activity help to do this. 

As Fanni Lőrincz explains, their solution displays the data in easy-to-understand graphs and automatically generates weekly reports. She said: they have also developed a feature that allows setting a reminder for example when to take medication, which the app not only alerts the user to during the conversation, but also infers when it has happened. "Our solution is not intended to replace social interaction, but can be a complementary option for people who cannot interact with their friends and loved ones on a daily basis," she added.

Balázs Szőnyi and Fanni Lőrincz have further plans to improve the app. They would like to involve voice actors in the development of the voice models, so that users can communicate with a familiar voice, which would give them a more direct experience.

The two University students are confident that their innovation can become a service that will help many people in the future, contributing to the prevention of mental illness and the improvement of patients' well-being.

Wins at the National Science and Innovation Olympiad

This is not the first innovation that Balázs Szőnyi has been involved in, as he has already been successful in the National Science and Innovation Olympiad on several occasions. Two years ago, he won with a software development for 3D scanners, which has since been used in various dental and industrial applications. Last year, he was on the podium once again, when he and a partner came up with a solution to create a driver assistance system that interacts with Waze's navigation system. Balázs has been active not only in national competitions but on the international stage as well: last year he participated in the EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) in Brussels and in 2002 in Atlanta at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).