The technology consultancy Devoteam, in collaboration with DOWN ESPAÑA, has developed Minerva, a conversational tool based on Artificial Intelligence designed to help people with Down syndrome access more autonomously information relevant to their daily lives. This tool represents a significant advance in the use of inclusive technology.
The project arises to respond to a common reality: much of the digital information continues to be too complex for many people with intellectual disabilities, which generates a constant dependence on family members, caregivers or professionals. In this context, the new tool is presented as a key support to facilitate the understanding of content and daily decision-making.
The tool developed by Devoteam allows you to resolve doubts related to areas such as employment, health or education through conversations in simple language, complemented with visual supports such as pictograms, videos or infographics. Thanks to this tool, a person can, for example, ask how to prepare for a job interview or what steps to follow to carry out a procedure and receive an explanation adapted to their cognitive needs.
Eliminate barriers and enhance autonomy
“The goal was not just to incorporate AI, but to create a really useful and accessible tool for people,” explains Iván Prieto, director of AWS Solutions at Devoteam. “We wanted technology to help reduce barriers and promote greater autonomy.” In addition to improving accessibility, this tool addresses another important challenge for DOWN ESPAÑA: technological dependency.
The platform introduces a management tool that allows the organization to autonomously update the AI knowledge base, reducing update times from weeks to just a few hours. As José Gutiérrez, Program Director of DOWN ESPAÑA, points out: “Minerva is a project that arises from the need to offer accessibility to technological tools to people with Down syndrome and, also, to guarantee them and their families true and reliable information.”
The tool adapts complex content to simple language and visual resources to help in everyday situations related to employment, health and education
Minerva has been initially deployed in three priority areas – employment, health and education – and is designed as a scalable tool, capable of reaching thousands of potential users thanks to a cloud architecture based on AWS serverless services.
According to data from DOWN ESPAÑA, there are currently around 35,000 people with Down syndrome living in the country, many of whom continue to encounter cognitive and digital barriers to accessing essential information independently. With this tool, Devoteam reinforces its commitment to the development of AI solutions with social impact, applying generative technology to use cases focused on accessibility, inclusion and personal autonomy.
